Once upon a time a girl came to Storybrooke
by PLLiar
Summary: Lena was brought to Storybrooke, along with many other characters, by the second curse. How will Lena fit in with her new family in this new world and will she be able to fulfil her destiny? Swan queen will be present. :) And dragons. :)
1. Chapter 1

**I will be telling the story of Lena, a young girl who lost her family at the age of four. She has been living in the enchanted forest with her friend Elliot, who found her after the accident. Lena was brought to Storybrooke, along with many other characters, by the second curse.  
How will Lena fit in with her new family in this new world and will she be able to fulfil her destiny?**

 **The movie Pete's dragon was one of many inspiration when creating this story.**

 **The whole story is spread over a couple of years. In the beginning Lena is 10 years old. At the end she is 17.  
I won't follow the exact storyline as the show but there will be similar parts you may recognize.**

 **The story starts after the midseason final of season 3. Emma has come back to Storybrooke with Henry.**

 **Swan queen will be present**

* * *

A couple of days after Emma's return to Storybrooke, she and David were driving towards the toll bridge when Emma suddenly pushed the break and brought her yellow bug to a stop.

"What's wrong? Why did you stop the car so hard?" David asked while Emma was already pushing the driver's door open.

"I just saw someone in the woods, over there" Emma said and pointed towards the trees on the right side of the road.

"Someone?"

"Yeah."

"Maybe a hiker?" David pointed out.

"In the trees?"

"What do you mean 'in the trees'?"

"There wasn't a person on the ground walking. There was someone hidden up there, in the trees" Emma replied and pointed back to the trees but this time higher up.  
They both decided it was worth checking out so Emma parked her yellow bug next to the road and their search for the unknown person began.

* * *

After an hour walking they still hadn't found anything or anyone. Emma and David were about to give up and return to the car when David heard rustling leaves above his head. When he looked up a pair of hidden eyes were looking back at him.

"Emma" he called out: "Over here."

Emma turned around just to see a small person jumping from one tree to another.

"What the… Did you see that?" Emma said, following the person with her eyes.

"Yeah I did. Emma that didn't seemed to be an adult to me" David replied.

"No it didn't."

They started their chase after the child with their eyes constantly going up and down so they could follow the child without stumbling over anything on their path. Emma knew this part of the woods pretty good and knew the child soon needed to come out of the trees because a couple meters ahead the trees stood further apart from each other. The child wouldn't be able to cover those jumps anymore. Still that didn't kept the child from trying. Just like Emma had predicted the trees were too far apart. The child could barely grab a branch but couldn't hold on. It fell down, bumping against other branches and finally landing on the bed of moss underneath the tree. Emma and David quickly ran to the child lying unconscious on the ground.

"Be careful" David said when Emma crouched down next to the child.

"Look" Emma said, looking up at her father: "It's a young girl. She doesn't look older then, what,…10 years old?"

"We can't move her. I'll call an ambulance."

"Okay. I'll stay here with the girl. You can wait up the ambulance."

David nodded. He turned around and started his way back to the car while pulling his phone out of his jacket.

* * *

"Can someone explain to me what's going on here?" Regina asked while walking into the pediatric hospital wing: "What's this about a girl found in the woods?"

"That's it…We found a girl in the woods" Emma simply said.

"Oh. Than why all the commotion?"

"Because no one has any idea who she is and instead of running through the woods, she was jumping from tree to tree" David explained.

"Mmmh. She probably came to Storybrooke with the second curse" Regina stated.

"Yeah that's what we thought too."

Doctor Whale walked out of the room of the young girl.

"Doctor Whale, is she okay?" Emma asked worried.

"Yeah everything is fine. She has some bruises and cuts from falling down but nog major injuries" Dr. Whale answered.

"She fell? Regina asked shocked.

"Yeah, out of a tree" Emma replied.

"What?!"

"That doesn't matter now" Dr. Whale interrupted before the argument between the two women could escalate: "All that matters is that the girl is fine. She doesn't show any signs of dehydration or malnutrition."

"That's good" David stated.

"She's still asleep but when she wakes up you can take her with you."

"Where should we take her?" David asked the two women.

"I was thinking I could bring her to the polite station. Hopefully she can tell me who she is and where we can find her family" Emma said.

"That seems like a good idea" David agreed. He and Emma now looked at Regina to see what their mayor thought of the plan.

Regina just nodded, turned on her heels to walk away while saying: "Keep me posted" and then left.

* * *

A couple hours later Emma was sitting with the young girl at her desk. She was trying to find out some information about the girl but till now the girl didn't seemed to be willing to cooperate.

"Let's try again" Emma tried for the third time: "Can you tell me your name?"

The girl kept staring away from her.

Emma sighed. "I know you're knew here in Storybrooke so I understand this is all a bit scary. Especially when you're alone. I'm here to help."

David walked in and asked: "Any luck yet?"

Emma shook her head. David made a motion with his head for Emma to follow him. Emma stood up and followed David to the other room where the rest of the desks were lined up. They could talk in private that way but still keep an eye on the young girl through the glass wall.

"She won't say anything. She just keeps staring at the wall. The expression on her face doesn't even seem to change" Emma said, obviously tired.

"What should we do? It's getting late and we can't keep her here overnight" David replied. They heard the front door of the polite station open and a second later Regina rounded the corner.

"Miss Swan, I thought I asked you to keep me updated. I haven't heard from you since this morning when I saw you at the hospital" Regina said.

The young girl turned her head towards the mayor. Emma saw the expression of the young girl soften before her eyes. She looked sad now. Nobody seemed to notice accept Emma.

"Miss Swan?" Regina said again when the blonde didn't react.

"Yeah, umm. Well I don't have anything to update you with" Emma finally answered.

"Well that's disappointing" Regina replied.

Emma sighed annoyed and rolled her eyes: "Do you wanna try and get her to talk? Be my guest."

"Getting information out of a suspect is your job not mine."

"She's not a suspect. She's just a young girl who's scared…"

"And gone!" David finished. The women turned their heads to where the young girl had been sitting. Indeed the seat was now empty.

"How could you let this happen?! This is unbelievable" Regina said shocked.

This made Emma angry: "How is this my fault?! I'm not the only one here who didn't notice she was gone!"

"Again," Regina replied: "Your job, not mine. You better find her." With this Regina finished the conversation and left.

When the door closed behind Regina Emma let out an angry moan: "Can you believe her?"

"You know how Regina is" David tried to calm down his daughter: "Let's just start searching."

* * *

 **Let me know what you think.**


	2. Chapter 2

It was getting dark outside and nor David nor Emma had found the young girl. They had decided to split up to cover more ground so now Emma was walking on the edge of town with her flashlight in one hand and her phone in the other.

"And?" Emma said in her phone.

"Nothing" David answered on the other side of the line: "Let's call it of for the night. It's getting too dark anyway. Maybe we will have more luck tomorrow."

"Hang on" Emma said when she saw something move into an alley.

"What?"

"Maybe nothing but I just saw something move. I'm gonna check it out. I'll see you at home."

Emma pushed the red button on her phone and put it in her pocket. Slowly she walked towards the alley with her flashlight lighting up the way. At first there seemed to be nothing in the alley but some trash bins and wooden pallets. Emma was about to walk away when she noticed a pair of emerald green eyes looking at her. They looked even greener than hers, Emma thought.

"Hey there" Emma spoke with a soft voice: "It's okay, you can come out."

The young girl barely moved. Only her head and eyes moved around the place to find a route to escape.

"You don't trust me, do you" Emma tried: "I understand. It's not like you know me. But you seem to know Regina."

The young girl looked at Emma at the sound of the mayor's name.

"I thought that would get your attention. I saw how you reacted when Regina walked into the police station earlier. Do you know her?"

The young girl slowly nodded, the sadness showing on her face.

"How? From when she was in the enchanted forest this past year?"

Again the girl nodded.

"Do you know anyone else here in town?"

For a moment the girl seemed to think. Then: "I know everyone."

Emma gasped from surprise. When the shock of the girl speaking flowed away she started to look confused because of the girls answer. "Everyone? How is that possible? No one seems to know you."

The girl let her head hang down sadly.

"I'm sorry. I… Do you remember what happened in the enchanted forest?"

The girl nodded.

"That's great. Maybe you can tell everyone. We can go to Regina right now if you want to" Emma said hopefully.

"No" the girl said sternly and took a step back.

"Why not?"

"They have to remember themselves" the girl explained. She looked up at the walls. "It's the only way they will truly believe what happened." Then the girl pushed herself off against the wooden pallets to jump from wall to wall until she reached the roof of one the houses. She lifted herself on the roof and disappeared. Emma stood grounded from disbelieve that what she just saw actually happened. When her shock flowed away she decided to walk back to her car. She knew that following the girl would be hopeless. Before she drove away she called Regina to ask her to meet her at the Charming's home. This time she had a hell of an update for the mayor.

* * *

"So she knows all of us and she knows what happened in the enchanted forest?" Snow asked summarizing.

"That's what she said" Emma answered.

"But how is that possible?" Regina asked, more to herself: "I understand that we don't remember her because if we met her the past year in the enchanted forest we just forgot her just like everything else we forgot about what happened. But how is it that she does remember?"

Nobody answered because nobody knew the answer.

"Should we search for her tomorrow in the forest again?" David asked.

"No, I don't think we should" Emma said. She continued to explain when she saw everyone looking confused at her: "I don't think we will be that lucky again at finding her. And it's not like she's gonna tell us anything more. When the time is right she will come back. I'm sure of it."

"Since when have you become so positive thinking, miss Swan?" Regina asked surprised.

Emma shrugged: "I don't know. I guess my charming genes are finally pushing through." Emma smirked.

* * *

Emma walked into the mayor's office for her weekly sit down the mayor to discuss the budget plan for the police. She found the mayor behind her desk with her elbows on the table and her head resting in her hands.

"Regina?" The brunette looked up seeing the blonde woman looking worried at her.

"You're late, miss Swan…As usual…" Regina said, trying to hide her other feelings.

Emma sighed annoyed. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Regina turned around scared that the blonde would see the worriedness in her eyes.

"No you're not" Emma responded.

Damn it, Regina thought. She sighed: "What do you want from me, miss Swan?"

"I don't want anything…I just thought that I could listen to you if you needed a friend you could talk to."

"A friend…to talk to?... About what?"

"I don't know…Maybe about the girl?"

Regina looked at Emma, startled. How the hell did Emma know what kept her busy these past few days. Regina had literally lied awake, thinking about this young girl who knew her but she didn't recognize. Not only that…the girl also knew what happened in the Enchanted Forest and it didn't seem particularly good.

"If you're worried about her, I don't think you should be. She seems to be able to take care of herself quite well."

"It's not that…It's…" Sigh.

"What?"

"You said that the girl knew me, right?"

"Yeah. When she saw you at the police station it was the first open reaction I got from her. And later when I found her in that alley, when I said your name, her eyes were filled with sadness."

"That's what I mean. She got sad…" Emma looked confused. "Our paths have obviously crossed each other in the enchanted forest but I don't remember how. What if…what if I did something bad to her and that's why she gets sad when she sees or hears about me."

Emma could hear the insecurity in Regina's voice. She did a stop forward and leaned forward on the desk. Regina's eyes turned looking up in the blond's green eyes. Her heart seemed to stop beating for just a second.

"Regina, listen to me" Emma spoke softly: "You gave me a past with Henry I could have only dreamed of…No one with a bad heart would have ever done that…You are a good person." A moment silence. Then Emma turned on her heels and walked out of the office. Her heart was beating very fast in contrast with Regina's heart, which seemed to have stop beating at all. They forgot about the budget meeting but that conversation wouldn't be forgotten soon.

Outside of Regina's office window a young girl was hiding out in the tree. Sadness in her eyes. She had followed the whole conversation. "Don't doubt yourself" the young girl whispered for no one to hear: "You are a kind and caring person…I should know…You cared for me…" A single tears rolled down from the young girls sheek.

* * *

 **In the next chapter the story will continue after Regina breaks the curse by kissing Henry.**

 **I already have the complete story written. I only need to read the chapters over for any mistakes.**  
 **I hope you stick around.**

 **Reviews are welcome. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Continues on episode 19 of season 3. After they saved Henry from the wicked witch Zelena, Regina kisses Henry on the forehead which breaks the curse. Now the curse is broken their memories are restored. Snow and David remember casting the curse, Regina remembers Zelena is her sister and…**

"Lena" Regina spoke softly. Her eyes big and sad in disbelief. Her mouth slightly open. "How could I forget her?"

"Who's Lena?" Henry asked.

"It's the young girl we found in the woods a couple weeks ago" David answered since Regina didn't seem able to.

"What?" Emma asked surprised. It had been weeks and to be honest she hadn't thought about the young girl for a while. "Okay" almost literally shaking away the surprise by shaking her head: "And how does she fit into the story?"

Regina took a deep breath: "I found her in the woods too…in the enchanted forest. Her family died when she was just 4 years old and she survived in the woods all those years.

"Alone?" Henry asked.

"No. She had a friend who found her right after her family died."

"A friend?" Emma asked suspicious.

Regina took another deep breath before saying: "A dragon."

"Awesome" Henry said with a smile.

"I need to find her" Regina said determined.

"Mom," Henry said: "You seem to really care about this girl."

Regina looked her son right in the eyes and nodded with soft smile.

"Like a daughter?" Henry asked.

Regina swallowed. She was surprised at how observing her son was. "Would that be okay with you?" she asked.

"Yeah, of course. I always wanted a sibling" Henry smiled.

Regina couldn't resist hugging her son. "You're amazing, you know" she whispered in his ear.

Henry pulled out of the hug and looked his mother right in the eyes: "Now let's go find Lena."

* * *

"LENA! LEENAAA!" Regina kept calling out.

She, Emma, David, Henry and Ruby were walking through the woods searching for the young girl. They'd asked Ruby along since they could use her strong wolves nose and because Ruby and Lena had gotten along very well in the enchanted forest.

"Anything?" Emma asked Ruby.

"I'm not sure" Ruby answered: "I think I found a scent but it's like it's covered up or something. Like something is trying to hide it."

"Let's just try to follow it" David suggested.

After walking a bit further Ruby seemed to smell something stronger. "Over there" she said and pointed to her left. The group started to run in the direction Ruby had pointed to.

They didn't need to go far before they reached a circle of strong oaks with in the middle of that circle the strongest of them all. Underneath the oak was a beautiful den made of woven branches.

"It's empty" David said after checking it out.

"It's beautiful" Ruby said looking amazed at the den: "Did she made this herself?"

"Lena had one like this in the enchanted forest too, remember. It's definitely hers" Regina answered.

"Then were is she?" Henry asked: "And would her dragon friend be here too?"

"I don't know" Regina replied: "Lena is probably somewhere close by, searching for food or something. And for Elliot, her dragon friend…I really don't know. Dragons are resistant to a lot of magic so there is a good chance he is still in the enchanted forest.  
A branch snapped behind them. When the group turned around a surprised young girl stood before them.

"Lena?" Regina said softly, taking a step forward.

Lena looked very surprised at the woman before. Regina took another step forward but this time Lena stepped back, ready to run away, up into the trees.

"Lena, don't…please" Regina pleaded. Tears forming in her eyes: "I'm so glad you're alright."

Still the young girl didn't let her walls down.

"It's me…Regina" she tried, thinking maybe Lena didn't remember after living in the woods for so many weeks.

"I know who you are" Lena replied sternly, almost angry Emma noticed: "It's you who didn't remember me." There it was. The reason why the girl was so distant.

"Lena, I…the curse…" Regina stumbled.

"I know it was the curse" Lena said harsher now. Her anger was growing: "But it's not fair. You remembered everyone. Everyone! Snow white, David, Emma,…Henry…But not me. You just forgot."

"I'm so sorry" Regina apologized, now crying.

"I was all alone…again…" Regina felt something bad had happened because of how Lena emphasized the word 'alone'.

"Lena, where is Elliot?" Regina asked, taking a couple slow steps forward.

This time it were Lena's eyes that filled with tears. She quickly looked away, not wanting to show how hurt she felt.

"Lena" Regina spoke softly, standing only a couple feet away from the girl. Regina bend down to come at eyelevel with Lena and waited for the girl to look up into her eyes before continuing. It's than Regina noticed a small difference in Lena's eyes. Small glints of emerald green sparkled in those deep dark eyes: "Talk to me,…please…What happened to Elliot?"

"He…He's gone" Lena said, barely loud enough for Regina to hear."

"What do you mean, gone?"

Lena look up into a pair of dark concerned eyes. She couldn't keep this up anymore. She was just too tired of acting brave and strong. Lena let the tears stream down her cheeks and let herself be embraced by a pair of supporting arms where she let herself fall into. Regina slowly guided them both to the ground where they set down and where she kept the young girl in a tight embrace.

* * *

Lena woke up to a soft sound of chatter and a smell she didn't recognized. When she opened her eyes she found herself in a bright open room, lying on a couch. When Lena sat upright she saw the room was mostly white and black, accept for the deep red apples in the bowl on the coffee table. Lena looked around, trying to locate the chatter and smell. They seemed to come from the same room. She slowly and carefully walked towards it. When she put her head around the corner she found Regina, Emma and Ruby standing in the kitchen around the counter. Ruby was first to see the young girl watching them.

"Hey there, sweetie" she said. The other two women now also turned their head towards the door.

"Lena," Regina said while walking towards the girl: "How are you feeling."

"Okay, I guess."

"Do you want to eat something?"

Lena nodded. She looked at the counter and noticed that the scent she had smelt came from three mugs standing on the counter. "What's that smell?" she asked curious.

"This?" Emma asked, holding up her mug: "Hot chocolate with cinnamon."

"Smells good" Lena replied.

"Wanna try some?" Emma asked.

Lena nodded and walked closer to the counter. Ruby pushed a stool back for Lena to sit on.

"I'm Emma by the way" Emma introduced herself while pushing a mug to Lena.

"I know" Lena simply replied.

"Ah that's right. You know everyone" Emma said and winked at Lena.

"And you introduced yourself when you were questioning me at the police station" Lena smirked.

"Right…"

"How did you keep your memory?" Ruby asked straight ahead: "You were standing right next to me when the curse hid." Regina remembered asking Lena to stay with Ruby when she went to help Snow and David to cast the curs.

"Elliot" Lena said and then taking a sip of the drink in front of her: "Wow this is delicious."

"Don't change the subject" Regina said with a smirk.

Lena sighed before explaining: "When the curse started to spread Elliot got anxious. It's like he felt something wasn't going as planned. He wrapped is wings around just before the curse hit us. I'm guessing that is the reason why I wasn't affected by the memory potion mixed in the curse. Memory potions don't work on dragons. "  
Ruby and Emma both looked up at Regina.

"Is it possible?" Emma asked.

"I…I don't know…I guess" Regina answered unsure.

"And you're sure Elliot isn't here in Storybrooke" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure. If he was here he would've found me immediately" Lena said.

"Ruby, if a dragon was here in Storybrooke don't you think you would smelled that by now?" Emma asked mockingly.

"No actually. Dragons aren't only protected to magic. You can barely smell a dragon. That way other animals can't find them" Ruby answered feeling smart.

"Oh" Emma just said.

"Hey, I think Elliot's protection may have rubbed off on you a bit" Ruby said to Lena: "Because in the woods I could barely smell your scent. Even now I have trouble finding it and your sitting right next to me."

Lena shrugged then turned to Regina: "Can I get something to eat now? I'm really hungry."

"Of course. Maybe we can go to granny's diner" Regina suggested.

"Granny has a diner here?" Lena asked stunned.

They all laughed.

"Come on, let's go" Emma said, jumping of her stool first: "I'm up for a burger and some fries too."

Ruby followed close behind with Regina and Lena on her heels. Lena looked up at woman next to her and smiled. She was happy Regina remembered her again and they were back together but still… There was a nagging feeling inside her stomach because she hadn't told the three women the whole story of what happened with Elliot. Lena just wasn't quite ready yet to tell them her little secret.

* * *

 **Let me know what you think.**


	4. Chapter 4

Four days had past already. Lena enjoyed living with Regina and eating at Granny's. But she wasn't yet use to sleeping inside. Around midnight she would usually wake up from a nightmare. After that she couldn't fall asleep anymore so she'd go outside to the garden. The first night Lena spend at Regina's home, she had already found a nice place under a low fir tree with woodcut underneath. When Regina went to wake up Lena the next day she was very worried when she didn't find Lena in the guest bedroom. It didn't take Regina long though to find Lena sleeping in the garden. She had asked the young girl about why she slept outside. Lena didn't tell her about the nightmares. She just brushed it off as being used to sleeping outdoors. It had been the fourth time now Regina had found Lena sleeping in the garden. During breakfast Regina was trying to collect the courage to talk about this with Lena.

"So" Regina began: "you sleep well?

"Okay, I guess" Lena shrugged.

"Lena, can I ask you something?"

Lena nodded with a mouth full of cereal.

"Why do you sleep out in garden?"

Lena stopped chewing for a second. Slowly she continued to clear her mouth of food. After a big swallow and a deep breath she spoke: "I just sleep better outside."

"Why do you think that is?"

Lena shrugged.

"You know every night, before I go to bed, I check on you and you always seem to sleep okay. But every morning I find you in the garden."

Lena lays her spoon next to the bowl of cereal and lets her head down.

"Lena, I'm not mad at you. It's very normal that you need some time to adjust. I just wish you would talk to me. I want to help you."

"I have nightmares" Lena whispers, barely loud enough for Regina to hear.

"About what?"

Lena didn't wanted to say and Regina recognized the closed posture of the girl.

"I was thinking. Maybe I could make an appointment with Dr. Hopper for you" Regina suggested: "Sometimes it's easier to talk to a professional. But I do believe you should talk about it."

After another deep breath Lena finally said: "Okay."

* * *

That afternoon Lena and Regina were already waiting outside of Dr. Hopper's office. Lena's stomach was in a not. She was nervous. What if Dr. Hopper found out her secret and would tell Regina.  
The door of the office opened and Dr. Hopper invited them in. After a short introduction Dr. Hopper asked Regina for him and Lena to speak alone. He thought this would get the best results.

"I will go to Granny's diner" Regina said: "It's just on the other side of the street. I will wait for you there."

Lena nodded and took place on the big couch. After Dr. Hopper closed the door behind Regina he took place on the smaller chair to her left.

"So Lena, Regina told me you had some trouble sleeping" Dr. Hopper started off: "Why don't you tell a bit about that."

* * *

After an hour Lena walked into Granny's diner. She found Regina sitting at the counter drinking her coffee. Lena took place on the stool next to her.

"Hey, how did it go?" Regina asked.

"Good" Lena replied. She just had talked about living in the enchanted forest. How she lost her family and found Elliot and later Regina. Lena had been very careful not to give away too much. She didn't want anyone to know about the real reason she had nightmares. At least not yet. Not until she knew they could handle it.

"Do you want to eat something?"

Lena nodded. Regina called Ruby over.

"Hey sweety, what can I get you?" Ruby asked.

"A grilled cheese sandwich and an iced tea, please" Lena replied.

"Coming right up" Ruby said with a wink.

"Regina," Lena turned to the woman next to her: "Can we go to the woods tomorrow?"

"What would you like to do there?" Regina asked curious.

"Running" Lena simply said: "I miss it."

"I guess we could go tomorrow. But to be honest I'm not really a runner myself."

"I am" Ruby cut in, not hiding she was listening in on their conversation: "I love running in the woods. It makes me feel…."

"…Free…" Lena said smiling.

"Maybe you should take Lena to the woods tomorrow instead" Regina said: "You ran together a lot in the enchanted forest too, if I'm not mistaken."

"Can you take me?" Lena asked Ruby hopefully.

"Yeah sure. But first eat your grilled cheese" Ruby said pushing the plate under Lena's nose.

* * *

The next morning, Ruby had come earlier than she had told Lena. She had asked Regina for permission to see for herself how and where Lena slept. But she wasn't planning on telling Lena this. Ruby stood in the kitchen, watching through the window that showed the back garden. There she saw Lena lying under the fir tree.

"So that's where she sleeps?" Ruby asked, nodding towards Lena, arms crossed.

"Yes, every morning I find her under the same tree" Regina answered, holding a cup of coffee.

"It's almost…animal-like" Ruby said carefully.

"I know. But she has been living in the woods for most of her live so…I guess it's normal…for her."

Ruby heard the worriedness in Regina's voice. She sighed. "Would it be okay if I go wake her?"

"Be my guest."

Lena wasn't really sleeping anymore but her eyes were still closed while she enjoyed the soft morning sun that fell on her cheeks. She heard the backdoor opening but it weren't Regina's footsteps she heard approaching. Lena was instantly on guard.

"Good morning" Ruby greeted.

"Ruby?" Lena opened her eyes and looked up in surprise.

"Hey sweety" Ruby greeted: "I woke up early so I thought we could eat breakfast together."

Lena smiled and jumped up. She stretched out her arms and brushed the woodcuts from her clothes before giving her friend a hug.

"Cozy place you have here" Ruby winked.

They walked inside into the kitchen where Regina was already making pancakes. Lena thought it was a bit weird that Regina didn't seem to mind that Ruby invited herself to breakfast. What Lena didn't know was that the two women had agreed on this arrangement. After breakfast Lena went up to her room to put on comfortable clothes and then she and Ruby left. Before Lena stepped out of the front door she gave Regina a quick hug goodbye.

"Bye Regina" Lena said.

"I'll see you at lunch" Regina said: "Have fun."

And off they went.

* * *

 **Next chapter will follow soon.  
Let me know what you think.**


	5. Chapter 5

Wind blowing in her hair and the ground lightly touching under her feet, Lena ran fast between the trees. Quickly maneuvering her body at sudden changes on her path. Ruby was only a step behind her. They were both laughing in the wind. At a small creek they took a break to catch their breath.

"Wow. You have become really fast. I could barely keep up" Ruby panted.

"Just been running a lot the past couple of months" Lena said, looking away from Ruby.

"Now why don't I believe that's the only explanation."

"I don't know what to tell you other than there's nothing more to say" on that note Lena took off in a run.

"Hey, wait up Lena" Ruby called out and started the pursuit. Luckily she quickly caught up with the girl: "Can't we just talk for a while…without running."

"I don't wanna talk…I already talked to Dr. Hopper enough yesterday."

"I know you did. But I'm your friend, remember…Maybe there are things I could help with."

"Like what."

"I don't know…Maybe the animal-like behavior your showing." That got Lena's attention. She stopped running so abruptly that Ruby almost slipped on the leaves on the ground trying to react to Lena's move.

"I don't do anything animal-like" Lena protested.

"Oh no?" Ruby looked at Lena with questionable eyes: "How about sleeping outside."

"I'm used to. I've slept outside most of my life" Lena protested.

"And jumping from tree to tree. That's not something you did in the enchanted forest. At least not that advanced."

"I've practiced a lot."

"Like your running, huh. It's not the only thing that's changed. Your eyes are different too."

Lena looked away: "I don't know what you want me to say."

"How about the truth."

"You want the truth?" Lena was getting upset. All the emotions were building up in her and she didn't think she would able to keep them in any longer: "The truth about how Elliot protected me against a curse and that he is gone now? Except of course for his freaking soul that seems to be living inside my head now. That ever since I woke up in Storybrooke I haven't had a good night of sleep without any nightmares about Elliot trying to warn me about all sorts of things? That even during the day I keep hear him talking to me and that the only way I can get some peace and quiet is by running?...Is that what you want to hear?"

Ruby watched how the tears were rolling down Lena's cheeks. She herself was stupefied and didn't know what to say next. After a couple dozen seconds of silence, except for the soft sobbing of Lena, Ruby finally spoke: "Elliot, he's inside you?"

Lena nodded: "I don't have any other explanation for why else I would hear him speak all the time. Or, like you said, why I suddenly can run so fast and jump trees like that."

Ruby stepped closer to her young friend and pulled her into a strong hug. "It's gonna be okay" she said softly: "I will help you any way I can."

Lena continued to sob. She gratefully accepted the hug and knew she could count on her friend.

"Have you told this to Regina?" Ruby asked after a while.

"No…and you can't either" Lena said, pulling out of the hug.

"Don't you think she deserves to know. Maybe she can even help you."

"No…I don't want her to know."

"Why not."

"…What if she doesn't want me around anymore? She'll probably throw me out..."

"Oh sweetie. Regina would never do that" Ruby tried to comfort Lena by pulling her back into the hug and then suggested: "What about I'll help you tell her."

Lena sighed. She knew she wouldn't get out of this one, that she had to tell Regina. After another sigh Lena slowly nodded.

* * *

When Lena and Ruby arrived at the Mill's mansion Lena quickly greeted Regina and then almost ran out into the garden. Regina watched confused.

"Did something happen?" Regina asked Ruby.

"I found out what's troubling Lena" Ruby started: "I thought it to best if she told you too but she's scared of how you will react so I suggested I help her tell you. Only I think she is so scared that she doesn't want to be present for your reaction." Ruby watched Lena outside taking place in the grass under the apple tree.

"Scared?" Regina really didn't understand.

Lena's stomach was twisting and turning. She was sure that Regina would run out into the garden any minute now and would start shouting at her how weird she was and she couldn't take care of Lena anymore. If Regina decided to kick Lena out, Lena would just go live back in the woods. Maybe Ruby would still visit her there and they could run again like they did today.

Lena's thought got interrupted by the kitchen door opening. She didn't look up until Regina stood only a couple feet away. When Lena's head finally turned up to look at her, Regina met a pair scared sad eyes. She had listened carefully to what Ruby had to tell. In the kitchen she had prepared a whole speech in her head of what to tell Lena. About how she would never kick Lena out of her home and stuff like that. But now she stood in front of the frightened young girl the words didn't seemed to come out. Instead Regina went to sit on her knees. Lena's eyes followed her confused. Regina stretched out her arms and pulled Lena into a strong supporting hug. Lena didn't understand what happened at first. This was definitely not the reaction she expecting. Her confusion quickly flowed away and she gratefully accepted Regina's hug by putting her own arms around the woman she cared so much about.

* * *

It was now time for Lena and Regina to inform a couple other people about her secret. The most important people in Storybrooke: Emma, Henry, Snow and David. They didn't think of telling Rumpelstiltskin because he would definitely abuse this knowledge.

"So…" Emma began: "You're part dragon?"

"Cool" Henry said amused.

"Now I understand why you could jump from tree to tree" David said, more to himself, thinking about the day he first found Lena in Storybrooke.

"So, is there anything else you got except for super running and jumping?" Emma asked interested.

"I think I got his memories too" Lena replied.

"His memories?" Regina asked.

"Yeah. I remember things that never happened to me" Lena explained.

"Like what?" It was Henry this time who asked the question.

"Like…flying around in Oz…I've never been in Oz" Lena stated.

"How do you know it's Oz?" Emma asked.

"Do you know another realm with an Emerald City?"

"Mmh…I guess not" Emma smirked.

"Anyone want some hot cocoa?" Snow asked out of the blue.

Everyone looked confused at the pregnant woman because of the sudden change of subject, except for Lena. She was glad Snow was trying to shift all the attention focused on the young girl to another subject.

"Yes please" Lena said with a smile.

The others broke from their confusion and they all joined around the counter to make the cocoa. Regina stayed back a bit and put an arm around Lena.

"I'm very proud of you, honey" she said.

"Why?" Lena asked.

"Because of how brave you are" Regina smiled. Lena returned the smile. Regina felt happy. She really cared about this young girl and hopefully she would soon be able to call Lena her daughter.

* * *

 **Please let me know what you think.  
** **Next chapter coming soon.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Side note: Zelena's time spell from in the show doesn't happen.**

* * *

Several weeks had gone by in which they defeated Zelena, Snow had her baby and Ruby had gone back to the enchanted forest to try and find her pack of werewolves. Since Ruby wasn't around anymore to take Lena to forest for running, Lena had gone with several other people: Emma, David, even Hook. It had become a weekly tradition for the two girls to go running in the woods on Saturday morning so Lena was grateful she had people caring about her so much to keep up this tradition. But none of them were as fast or as fun to run with as Ruby. Although Emma was a close second. Still Lena missed her friend.

* * *

"There you are" Regina said, finding Lena sitting in the kitchen. She had taken place on the ground next to the tall window reaching from floor to ceiling. Lena was looking outside into the garden where the rain was softly falling down. "You seem troubled."

"I just miss Ruby" Lena replied.

"I know you do." Regina set herself down opposite Lena.

"Mom!" Henry called through the house.

"In the kitchen" Regina called back. Henry walked in. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing. I just wondered if I could hang out some friends today."

"Of course. But I would like you home at diner though."

"Yeah, sure. No problem. Thanks mom" Henry said, already leaving the kitchen to the front door.

"Henry wait just a second. I'd like to talk to you for a moment" Regina said, standing up. Before she went after Henry she turned to Lena: "I'll be right back."  
Regina took Henry by the arm and pulled him into her home office.

"Is something wrong mom?" Henry asked worried.

"No, I just…I wanted to talk to you about something very important" Regina explained: "What would you say if we made Lena officially a part of our family?"

"You wanna adopt her?"

"Yes."

"That would be awesome. I already see her as my sister."

Regina sighed relieved: "Good. Hopefully Lena will feel as happy like we do."

After a sweet mother-son hug Henry left and Regina went back to kitchen. Only this time she found it empty. The back door was open but there was no sign of Lena. Regina's alarm bells immediately started ringing. Did she hear me and Henry talk, Regina thought. She grabbed her phone and pushed the button to call Emma.

"Hello?"

"Emma, it's Regina."

"Yeah, I know. I saw your name appear on my screen. What's up."

"I think Lena ran away."

"What? Why do you think that?"

"Well she's not here anymore and the back door is open."

"Can't she just…"

"No, I'm sure she ran away."

"Why? Did something happen?"

"Well…I think she heard me and Henry talk…about adopting her."

"Oh. But why would she run away because of that. She loves living with you."

"Maybe she is just not ready to make it official…I don't know…Can you help me find her?"

"Of course. I'll call David and Hook too. You should stay home for if she comes back."

"Emma…"

"I know…Don't worry we'll find her."

They hung up. Now the only thing Regina could do was pace around in her house.

* * *

"How is it that we're always ending up searching for this girl?" David asked, more to himself.

"She's scared" Emma spoke into her phone.

"Scared of having a family?" David asked confused.

"Yeah, I know what that's like" Emma said, thinking back at her years in foster care: "Wanting a family and actually accepting you have a family are two different things."

"So, splitting up?" David asked, wanting to talk strategy.

"You do the Northwest side of town. I'm gonna go to the docks first and ask Hook for help too. Then he can do the East side and I'll start at the South side."

"Okay. Call me when you find anything." David said and hung up. Emma too push the red button on her phone and then drove to the docks to meet up with Hook.

* * *

"Here for a drink love?" was the first thing the pirate said, holding up a bottle of rum.

"Lena is missing" Emma said right to the point: "Have you seen her?"

"No I haven't, love."

"Can you stop with the 'love' " Emma said irritated. She never liked being called that by the pirate. "If you see or hear anything that could lead to Lena call me, okay?"

"Euhm…Something like that?" Hook asked while pointing his hand, which was still holding the rum bottle, towards the south woods. Emma turned around and saw a huge plume of smoke rising up from the trees. "That doesn't look good" the pirate said, while Emma was already running back to her yellow bug. "Hey, wait up love" Hook called and ran after her to take place in the passenger's seat next to Emma.

Emma put her foot down hard on the gas pedal. Without hesitation she took some turns that brought them straight to the part of the woods where the alarming smoke was darkening the sky. All sorts of scenarios where going through Emma's mind. Hook was already calling the fire department because that much smoke could only come from a big fire. When they arrived at the woods it didn't take them long to locate the fire. Emma recognized the place. She had been here before. A circle of burning trees surrounded a big oak with underneath…

"Is that a den?" Hook asked confused taking in the whole situation.

"Yes" Emma confirmed: "It was Lena's home when she lived here in the woods."

"Emma, this is really strange fire?" Indeed tt didn't seem to be normal fire. Although the lower parts of the oaks were on fire, it didn't seem to spread to the treetops or any other trees. "Do you think Lena is in there?" Hook asked pointing at the den.

"I think she is."

"How are we supposed to get to her."

"I don't know yet" Emma answered honestly: "Hook, you call off the fire department. I don't think they can help much with this kind of fire."

Hook nodded and took a couple of steps back before taking out his phone. Emma on the other hand took a couple steps closer. There was a little gap between the two trees in front of her just wide enough to get through without being touched by the fire. But as soon Emma got to close the fire got more intensive which closed the gap.

"Any luck finding a way in?" Hook asked after he ended his phone call.

"No," Emma answered stepping away from the tree circle: "I'm gonna call Regina. Maybe she knows how to handle magical fire."

"It's magical?"

"What else do you think it is?" Emma had already dialed Regina's number when she turned away from the pirate. "Regina?" she said immediately when her called got answered.

"Emma!" The blonde could hear desperation in the other woman's voice: "Have you found her."

"Yeah. She's in the woods at the den she lived in before. But there's a little problem…" Emma couldn't even finish her sentence before purple smoke appeared in front of her. Regina's eyes grew big as soon as she saw the burning trees. "Don't worry" Emma said before the mayor could have a fit about Emma not having called the fire department yet: "It's not real fire. Or at least it doesn't spread to the other trees."

"And it's not even hot" they heard Hook say.

"What?" Emma asked confused.

"Look" Hook said and he put his hand into the fire. Now it was Emma who's eyes got bigger.

"Of course" Regina said, thinking hard: "It's dragon fire."

"What's so special about dragon fire."

"There's a rumor that dragons can produce fire that is actually harmless. They use it to protect their homes from intruders" Regina explained.

"Why is it a rumor?" Emma asked.

"Because no one could tell the difference between dragon fire and real fire" Regina answered.

"And no one was brave enough to test it out" Hook continued.

"If this is dragon fire than I can get to Lena just by walking through it" Regina said hopefully.

"Wait" Emma put a hand on one of Regina's arms to keep her back: "let me talk to her first. I think I understand what she's going through and maybe I can help her understand too."

Regina sighed but agreed. Slowly, with an arm outstretched, Emma walked closer to the burning trees. She took a deep breath before she took her first step into the circle of fire. It was strange seeing the flames around her but not feeling it burning on her skin. Another few steps and she was on the other side. Emma looked back at Regina and Hook before continuing to walk to the den.

"Lena?" Emma said, more to announce herself than to get a reaction from the young girl. When Emma put her head into the den she saw Lena crouched down on the ground with her knees pulled up, arms around them. "Lena" Emma said again: "Can I sit next to you?"

Lena just shrugged. So Emma took that as a yes.

"You've made quite a barrier out there" Emma tried to soften the mood. When that didn't work she tried the straight forward approach: "So I heard Regina wants to adopt you."

"I don't want to be adopted" Lena said, almost angry.

"You're already part of her family. This just makes it official that she's your mother."

"I don't want her to be my mother!"

Emma surprised by the harsh reaction, continued to ask: "Why not? You love her as a mother, don't you?"

Lena looked away.

"Hey, talk to me" Emma spoke softly.

The young girl signed. "I don't want her to be my mother because…" Deep breath. "..because mothers always leave…" Lena said softly.

Emma's heart almost broke by those sad words: "You don't truly believe that, do you?"

"Look at your family. Snow's mother died when she was still a little girl, Snow left you and you left Henry. And my mother…left me…I don't want Regina to leave me too."

"Oh honey" Emma put an arm around the girl and pulled her closer: "I know it's not easy to let people in again when you've been hurt before. But I promise you, you will feel much happier when you let those walls down."

Lena knew Emma was speaking from experience. Emma's youth was a topic they had spoken about many times during their runs. "How am I supposed to face Regina now, when I…"

"She loves you no matter what" Emma interrupted: "What if we start with something else. How about putting out those burning trees. How did you do that anyway?"

"I'm not sure. I was upset and I didn't want anyone to get to me. Suddenly the trees started burning. At first I was scared but when I saw the fire didn't spread I just let it be."

"Do you know how to put it out?"

Lena shook her head.

"Mmh…Maybe Regina knows a way. I'll got talk to her."

"Wait…she's here already?" Lena asked anxious.

"Hey" Emma gave Lena a reassuring smile: "It'll be okay." Emma stepped out of the den and walked over to where Regina and Hook were standing on the other side of the fire barrier.

"Is she okay?" Regina asked worried.

"Yeah, she's fine" Emma offered Regina a reassuring smile too: "But she doesn't know how to put out the dragon fire."

"I think I have an idea but we'll need to work together. We have to use our magic at the same time."

Emma nodded and on Regina's signal they both aimed their magic at the burning trees. It didn't take them long to put out the fire.

"That was easy" Hook stated.

"That's probably because the fire wasn't made by a real dragon" Emma guessed: "Anyway," Emma turned to Regina: "about Lena. She…"

"I heard…" Regina replied, obviously looking disappointed.

"Heard what?"

"That she doesn't want me to be her mother…She yelled it pretty loud…"

"Yeah…But it's not because of why you think. She thinks all mothers leave and she just doesn't want to lose you too."

Regina's felt her heart ache. She took a deep breath before walking towards the den. It was time for her to talk to that young girl she cared so much for. "Lena, it's Regina… Can I come in?" There came no answer so Regina placed herself on her knees in front of the den. "Lena, I know you feel scared and if you aren't ready for me to adopt you than that's alright. I don't want to force you to do anything and I love you no matter what." Regina heard movement and slowly the young girl came out of the shadows of her hiding place.

"You do?" Lena asked softly.

"Of course I do. Come here" Regina pulled Lena into a tight hug. "You scared me, you know."

"I'm sorry."

"I understand that sometimes it's difficult to talk about things but you have to promise me to never run away again. If you're troubled about anything than just find someone to talk about it. I will always be here for you. Do you promise?"

Lena nodded: "I promise." Another tight hug followed.

* * *

After such an adventurous day Regina and Lena were huddled up against each other on the couch in front of the TV with each a cup of hot cocoa. But Lena wasn't able to concentrate on the screen very much. All kinds of questions were circling around in her head. She decided to take Regina's advice and talk about what she was thinking about.

"Regina? Can I ask you something?" Lena felt a bit uncomfortable so she didn't look into Regina's eyes. This didn't escape Regina.

"Of course" she said putting her cup of cocoa on the little table next to her.

"…How does this adopting thing work?..."

"Well, I need to sign some papers and then you're officially part of the Mills family. It means that I'm your legal guardian. So I will be responsible to nurture you."

"Oh…You kinda already do that, don't you?"

"Yes. But this will make it official so that no one will be able to take you away and put you into foster care."

"Like Emma was?"

"Indeed."

"I think I'm ready for that."

"To be adopted?" Regina asked hopefully and a bit surprised.

Lena nodded: "But can I still call you Regina? I don't think I'm ready for that other step yet."

"Of course. Like I said before, I don't want to pressure you in doing anything you're not comfortable with."

Lena looked up and smiled: "Thanks."

Regina turned the smile. Lena felt more at ease now. Who knew talking about your worries would help so much. She settled herself closer to Regina and let her head rest against the woman's chest. They both sighed and turned their focus back onto the TV where the last scene of an animated movie was playing.

* * *

 **I'd love to hear what you think about it so far.**


	7. Chapter 7

Lena and Regina were enjoying their first diner as mother and daughter. Only a week had passed since Lena agreed to be adopted and since Regina was mayor, she had pulled a few strings to pass the adoption more quickly than it would usually take. But the quiet moment was suddenly interrupted by a phone call.

"Emma?" Regina said into her phone: "Wait…Slow down…What?...I'm coming immediately." Regina pushed the red button on her phone.

"What's going on?" Lena asked worried.

"There seems to be time portal opening at the edge of town. Emma says it's looking emerald green and I only know one person who loves that color as much as she loves being wicked."

"Zelena."

"Indeed. I have to go."

"Can I come too? Please?"

"No, I'm sorry honey. It's too dangerous." At that moment Henry walked in through the front door. "Henry, right on time. Can you stay at home with Lena, please?"

"Hi to you too mom" Henry greeted and kissed his mom on the cheek: "What's going on?"

"There's a time portal opening up" Lena explained.

"Oh can I come?" Henry asked enthusiastically.

"No, I need you to stay with Lena. Please" Regina insisted. Henry nodded. "Thank you. I love you both." With that Regina quickly ran out the door.

* * *

"Do you think they're okay?" Lena asked worried while pacing the room.

"I'm sure they're fine" Henry replied, drinking his hot cocoa.

"But they've been gone for hours now."

Henry received a text: _Come to Granny's diner with Lena. Love mom._

"Who is it?" Lena asked.

"Mom. She wants us to come to the diner."

"Then let's go!"

* * *

Lena practically ran all the way to the diner, with Henry on her heels. It wasn't an easy job for the boy since he wasn't really a runner and Lena…well she was born to run. They arrived at the diner, Henry panting and wheezing. Before Lena could pull open the door of the diner, it got opened from the inside. In the doorway a beautiful tall brunette with a red hood was standing in the doorway.

"Ruby!" Lena almost screamed and jumped into her friend's arms: "I missed you."

"I missed you too" Ruby replied, hugging back. When they pulled apart Lena noticed a different glint in Ruby's eyes.

"You look sad."

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to be. I really am happy to see you, Lena…But a friend of mine is in trouble. She's been put under a sleeping curse by Zelena and I followed that witch here…to Storybrooke" Ruby explained. They walked into the diner together. Henry followed behind them. The three of them took place in a booth and Regina joined them.

"What friend? Do I know her?" Lena asked.

"Her name is Dorothy. I met her in Oz" Ruby answered.

"And she's under a sleeping spell?"

"Yes."

"A true loves kiss is the only thing that can break that spell" Henry said, knowing the spell all too well.

"That's kinda the problem. There's no one who can give her that" Ruby replied: "I was hoping I could get Zelena to take back the curse."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible" Regina said.

"Then I'll have to keep searching for her true love" Ruby said determined: "Only I will need to get those slippers back from Zelena."

"What slippers?" Lena asked confused.

"The slippers to travel between realms?" Henry asked amazed.

Ruby nodded: "But Zelena had them. She stole them back from Dorothy."

"Maybe I can help with that" Regina said: "I will go talk some sense into my sister. Lena, Henry. I want you to stay here at the diner. Okay?" Both of her children nodded and then she left. She knew exactly where to find her dear sister. The old farm house.

* * *

Only half an hour after Regina left to find her sister, she reappeared into the diner with a puff of purple smoke. She was holding the slippers out in front of her.

"That was fast" Emma said surprised: "Did she just gave them to you?"

"Not exactly" Regina smirked: "Better be quick before she shows up to steal them back. Where is Ruby?"

"I'm here" Ruby said coming out of the back with her friend Snow.

"So what's the plan now?" Henry asked.

"The plan is for me to go back to Oz and hopefully awake her with a kiss" Ruby answered nervously.

"You're gonna kiss her?" Lena asked.

"Yes I am sweety" Ruby said while coming to eye level with the young girl.

"You love her then?"

Ruby sighed but smiled softly: "Yeah."

"You better leave now" Regina insisted. She handed over the slippers which Ruby put on her feet. Snow was coming along with her for moral support. With three clicks of her heels the two women disappeared, leaving the diner a bit more empty.

* * *

 **Next chapter will come soon.**  
 **I'd love to hear what you think of the story so far.**


	8. Chapter 8

Lena was sitting at Granny's diner in the booth closest to the door. This way she had the best view out of the window. After Ruby and Snow had left to save Dorothy in Oz. Regina had decided to wait here for the women to come back since Ruby said she would come back to Storybrooke as soon as she could. And it wasn't like Regina would have been able to pull Lena away from the diner.

"Are you okay honey?" Regina asked, taking place in the booth opposite Lena.

Lena just nodded without turning her head around. She didn't want to miss seeing Ruby arrive with Snow…and Dorothy.

"Do you remember what I asked you to do when something's troubling you?" Regina asked.

Lena slowly turned around, but only half. She kept her eyes down and softly spoke: "Talk."

"That's right" Regina nodded. There was a moment silence before one of them spoke again.

"Do you think that, when Ruby is back, she would still wanna go running with me?"

Regina could hear the sadness and insecurity in her daughters voice. "Why wouldn't she want to go running with you anymore?" she asked, trying to figure out what was troubling her little girl.

Lena shrugged, slightly tilting her head.

"Because of…Dorothy?" Regina guessed. Looking at the reaction of Lena to the name said enough. "Is that what you're worried about honey? That Ruby won't have time for you anymore if she comes back with Dorothy?"

Lena shrugged: "I don't know…I" sigh "I just miss my friend."

"Lena, please look at me." the young girl tilted her up so she could look into Regina's eyes. "I know you miss Ruby, but I also know that she misses you too."

"How do you know?"

"Because that is what friends do when they are apart" Regina explained: "I miss Emma when she's gone." The blonde woman at the counter couldn't help but smile.

"They're back" David said, interrupting the sweet moment and already running towards the door. Lena turned back around to look outside. Indeed Snow, Ruby and a woman Lena guessed was Dorothy, stood in front of the diner. Lena jumped out of the booth and ran through the door closely followed by Emma, Regina, Henry and Granny.

"Ruby!" Lena called out. She ran forward right into the already open arms of her friend in red.

"Lena, I'd like to introduce you to someone" Ruby said, pulling out of the hug. She did a step aside so the woman behind her could come stand next to her: "This Dorothy. Dorothy this is Lena."

"It's nice to meet you Lena" Dorothy said, holding out her hand.

Seeing the woman from up close Lena couldn't help but feel like the woman looked familiar, although she didn't know from where. Dorothy had never been in Storybrooke or the enchanted forest and Lena had never been to Oz…But Elliot had.

"Lena?" Regina said, pulling the young girl out of her haze.

Lena had been staring at Dorothy with a frowned face. She shook her head. "I'm sorry…It's nice to meet you too Dorothy" Lena said, shaking hands.

* * *

Lena sat outside on one of the benches outside Granny's diner, knees pulled up. After all the introductions Ruby wanted to have a little celebration and had invited everyone to stay for hot cocoa. Lena hadn't stayed inside for long. She was now enjoying a beautiful open sky full of stars but truth be told, she couldn't really enjoy the view. Her mind was racing. She kept going over all the memories of Elliot trying to find the one with Dorothy.

Inside the diner Ruby was standing in front of a window looking out at her young friend. She sighed. A warm hand coming around her waist.

"You look troubled, wolfie" Dorothy softly spoke into Ruby's ear.

"It's Lena" Ruby sighed again: "She doesn't really look happy about you and me."

"Maybe she just needs some time to get to know me and get used to the fact that you have a girlfriend now."

Ruby smiled. She loved hearing her say that. "I should go talk to her" Ruby said.

"Wait, let me try" Dorothy said, turning her girlfriend around.

"Are you sure?"

Dorothy nodded and softly kissed Ruby's lips.

* * *

"Nice night, isn't it?" Lena looked up, a bit startled. Dorothy was standing next to her looking up at the stars. She hadn't even hear the woman walking up at her.

"Can I come sit next to you?" Dorothy asked.

Lena shrugged: "I guess."

"You know…I feel like I already know you a bit" Dorothy said: "Ruby told me a lot about you."

"She did?" Lena said thunderstruck, feeling nervous that the woman already knew things about her. So she asked: "Like what?"

"Well, like you are the bravest and fastest girl she's ever met" Dorothy smiled.

"Ruby said that?" Lena asked, smiling back: "What else did she say?"

"She told me about your special friend, inside" Dorothy said while nodding her head towards Lena.

Lena felt nervous now. This woman she didn't know already about Elliot? "What did she say about him?" Lena asked.

"Just that you lived with a dragon in the enchanted forest since your parents died. And that because of a curse and a brave act that his soul lives in your body now."

Oh so almost everything, Lena thought, feeling a bit annoyed with Ruby now. She let that annoyance go almost immediately since she knew Ruby wouldn't tell this to just anyone she met. "Dorothy?" Lena spoke soft: "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Have you ever met a dragon? In Oz I mean."

"Actually I have. When I returned to Oz after I ran away from Kansas. He helped me out when I needed it the most."

"What did he look like, the dragon?"

"Beautiful, big, powerful, emerald green…His name was…"

"Elliot" Lena finished, looking up at the stars.

"Yeah, how do you know?" Dorothy asked confused.

"Because Elliot is my special friend. His soul now lives in me." When Lena turned to look at Dorothy she met a pair of wide open eyes. "Earlier, when Ruby introduced us, I had a feeling like you were familiar but I didn't know from where. Then I realized it wasn't me who remembered you. It was Elliot."

* * *

Ruby stood still in front of the window looking out at her friend and girlfriend talk. When she saw them standing up to come back inside Ruby quickly ran to the counter not wanting to look like she had been keeping an eye on them the whole time.

"Do like your talking to me" Ruby said to Snow.

"Uhm, okay? Aren't we talking right now?" Snow asked confused. The front door of the diner opened and Lena and Dorothy walked inside.

"Oh, hey you two" Ruby greeted, acting like she wasn't worried at all: "Had a nice chat?"

"I like her" Lena said, smiling broadly.

Ruby's fake smile faded from her face to be replaced by total surprise: "You do?"

"Seems like we have a common friend" Dorothy said.

"Who?" Regina asked interested.

"Dorothy met Elliot" Lena said happily.

"You did?" Ruby asked, still surprised.

"Yeah, he helped me out once in Oz" Dorothy explained.

"I think that deserves another celebration with hot cocoa" Emma suggested.

"With a shot of scotch for you, right?" Regina smirked. She had seen the blonde adding the liquor to her drink earlier.

"I don't know what you're talking about" Emma replied, acting innocent with her hand thrown up in the air. They all had to laugh. Although it didn't last long. A loud bang ended the happiness.

* * *

 **Reviews are welcome.**  
 **Next chapter coming soon.**


	9. Chapter 9

"What the hell was that?" Emma asked, holding the counter to keep her upright. The loud bang they heard didn't only sound loud it also gave a pretty big shock.

"It came from the town's square" Ruby said, her wolf senses on high alert.

"Then let's go check it out" David decided.

Regina turned to her children: "You two stay here with Granny."

Henry opened his mouth to protest but got interrupted by his other mother: "Henry…promise you'll stay here."

Henry sighed: "All right…but it's not fair."

"Do you think he will really stay at the diner?" Regina asked Emma while they walked out of Granny's.

"Not a chance" the blonde replied.

* * *

Lena kept pacing around in the diner. A nervous feeling had overwhelmed her ever since Regina and everyone else had left the diner. Something's wrong something's wrong, was all that was going through Lena's mind. Henry sat at the counter drinking another hot cocoa. Granny stood behind the counter cleaning some glasses.

"Can you stop pacing around. You're making me dizzy" Granny said.

"Something is wrong" Lena said worried: "I can feel it."

"I'm sure everything is fine" Henry tried to reassure his new sister: "Remember, our mothers are both very powerful." Suddenly Lena doubled over. A sharp pain her chest took her breath away. Henry jumped of his chair: "What's the matter? Are you okay?"

"Regina…" was all Lena said before she ran out the door. Although Henry couldn't follow Lena's pace he knew exactly where she was running too. They arrived just in time to see Regina loose her fight with Zelena. She got knocked out by the wicked witch.

"Mom" Henry called out.

"Henry, we told you…" Emma started when Lena ran past her.

"I know…But Lena ran out. She felt something was wrong with mom" Henry explained.

"Let her go!" Lena yelled at Zelena, who was holding Regina by the collar.

Zelena laughed wickedly: "And what are you gonna do about it…little girl…" Again a wicked laugh and with that Zelena and Regina disappeared into a cloud of green smoke.

"Nooooooo! Regina!" Lena screamed. She started breathing very heavy, almost like an animal. Anger rising in her.

"Lena?...It's okay…We'll get Regina back" Ruby carefully stepped closer to the young girl, but Ruby didn't seem to get through to her.

"I know that look in her eyes" Snow stated.

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked confused.

"It's the same look like you have right before you turn into a wolf" Snow explained.

"She's right" Dorothy agreed.

Before someone could say or do anything else green light started to form around Lena. It seemed to come from inside her and it only grew bigger until the light completely surrounded her. Too bright for anyone to look at. When the light faded away an emerald green dragon had taken the place of Lena. From shock and bewilderment everyone took a step back. The dragon seemed confused too. Looking around and taking everything in, carefully. This was all just too strange. With one big push of its wings the dragon lifted itself from the ground, flying straight up in the sky and disappearing towards the woods.

"What the hell…" Emma begin.

"…was that?" Henry finished.

"That…was Elliot" Dorothy simply stated.

"Elliot…the dragon…who's soul is been living inside Lena's body the past year?" Emma asked open-eyed.

"Uhu" was all Snow could bring out.

* * *

 _"Regina…where is she?...Elliot…Find Regina…"_

The dragon shook his head trying to shake the voice out of its head. He needed to concentrate on flying, otherwise a nasty crash would follow.  
So this is how it feels for Elliot to see the world through me, Lena thought. It was weird moving and doing things without having a say about it. Just following. It took Lena a while to get used to the voice in her head but she had learned to co-exist with Elliot's voice guiding her. It was only natural Elliot needed some time to adjust too.

At the moment Elliot was just flying around trying to make sense of what just happened. He and Lena had sort of switched places but how…or why? Elliot remembered feeling angry and scared. Lena was worried about someone and she was definitively angry about something. But what?

 _"Elliot"_ Lena tried to make contact with her friend: _"It's Regina. She's been abducted by Zelena."  
_

Zelena, that name sounded familiar. Of course the wicked witch of the west. Elliot had learned of the witch back in Oz. Dorothy had told him about her. And now that wicked witch had taken Regina. We like Regina, Elliot thought back at the time he and Lena spend with the woman. Regina had become a mother figure to Lena. No wait, she was Lena's mother. It seemed like the memories he made as Lena were coming in a bit late.  
Elliot shook his head again. He had to find Regina, for Lena. He closed his eyes and let himself glide through the air with stretch out wings. Elliot listened hard for anything that could be of help to get a location... There! He opened his eyes and set a straight course to where he had located the one he was searching, Regina.

* * *

"Do you think we made it in time?" Ruby asked worried. They had just arrived at the old farm house where Zelena had lived for a while. It was the only place they could think of where the wicked witch would hide. And they weren't wrong. She was standing outside with Regina tight up behind her against the porch. It was like Zelena was waiting for them.

"I don't think Lena is here" Emma said, looking around.

"Yet" Dorothy continued. They ran forward to the wicked witch. Close enough to talk but far enough to keep Regina save.

"Stay back" Zelena warned, her hand already squeezing Regina's throat as a warning.

"Zelena give it up. Let Regina go, please" Snow said.

"Well, since you asked so nicely" Zelena said sarcasticly: "Do you really think I'm just gonna give up so easy. I'm not so weak as my sister." Zelena threw a nasty look at Regina.

"This is your last chance, Zelena" Ruby said.

"Or what? You're gonna lick me to death" Zelena mocked.

"Oh no…I won't hurt you" Ruby smirked: "He on the other hand…" Ruby pointed up to the sky. With her wolf hearing, Ruby had picked up on Elliot before anyone could even see the dragon. But yes, Elliot was on his way.

Zelena's eyes grew bigger, so did Regina's, when she realized what was coming closer and closer and what was coming straight towards her: "Where the hell did you guys find a dragon?!" Total panic in Zelena's voice.

A deafening roar sounded before the dragon dove towards the ground. Zelena knew that she didn't have much of chance against a dragon on her own. But that didn't held her back from trying. Shots of emerald green magic flew towards the dragon, who easily avoided getting hit. Another deafening roar before the dragon landed right in front of the wicked witch. The dragon was huffing, breathing very heavy from anger.

"Remember the 'little girl' from before?" Emma asked smirking: "Tadaaa."

"What?!" both Zelena and Regina reacted at the same time.

"You can't win this fight" David said: "Surrender now and you won't get hurt."

Zelena was furious but she saw her defeat, for now. She did a quick hand gesture to Regina, which made the ropes around the woman fall down, and then threw her hands in the air. Regina ran to Henry to give him a strong hug. "I'm okay" she assured.  
David and Emma were about to step forward to get to Zelena but the dragon kept them back with his wings. He wasn't going to back down. This wicked witch hurt Regina. Lena cares for Regina, loves her. He couldn't just let the witch go after what she had done.

"Lena?" Regina said carefully: "Lena it's okay. I'm okay. She won't hurt anyone anymore."

Ruby stepped forward: "I don't think Lena is in control anymore, Regina. I think it's Elliot."

Regina looked from the brunette to the emerald green dragon. Slowly she stepped around the dragon, releasing Henry's hand, to go and stand right in between the dragon and Zelena. Elliot didn't like that and started growling at Regina.

"Regina…it's Regina…we found her…Elliot…we found her…" The dragon shook his head.

"Lena, I know you're in there" Regina tried: "I know it because Elliot would never get so angry or hurt anyone on his own. He would only do that to protect you…or if you wanted him too. Because you are angry and you want revenge." The dragon started breathing slower, totally focused on Regina now. "But revenge is not the answer. Maybe I'm not the best person to tell you this but I know that in the end it will come back and haunt you…Please, Lena. Stop this."

The dragon blinked his eyes a couple times and shook his head again. With the revengeful haze away now Elliot looked at Regina with sheepish eyes. He lowered his head. Regina laid a hand on his forehead.

"Well…now that's all out of the way" Zelena sighed: "I'm out of here." For the second time that evening she disappeared in a cloud of green smoke.

* * *

A loud roar. Elliot, the dragon, landed right in front of Granny's diner. Everyone else had come back by car. Another loud roar. Dorothy walked closer. "It's good to see you, my friend" she said and laid a hand on its forehead. Elliot rumbled softly in agreement.

"So, how are we going to get Lena back?" Regina asked.

"Can't she just turn back?" Emma responded.

"I don't think so" Dorothy said: "Lena and Elliot share a body. At first Lena was on the outside but when she got scared and angry for Regina Elliot felt that she needed help. I think that's why Lena changed into Elliot."

"How does that help us figure out how to change Elliot back into Lena?" Emma asked.

"Scared and angry feelings made Lena change. She needs to get control over her feelings and let them go" Dorothy explained.

"Why is she still feeling that way? Mom is safe now" Henry said confused.

Regina walked closer to Elliot and looked him straight in the eyes. She thought she could see glints of Lena's eyes in them just like in Lena's eyes there were emerald green glints like Elliot's eyes. Softly she laid a hand on Elliot's head.

"It's okay to feel scared or angry" Regina said. Although Regina didn't spoke loud, everyone's was listening close: "but you can't let those feelings take over…I am safe, we are all safe. You have to let it go." Slowly emerald green light was surrounding the dragon. Regina pulled her hand back and had to look away. When the light faded away, instead of a dragon, Lena was standing in front of Regina. They locked eyes. "Lena" Regina said softly. They jumped into each other's arms, hugging tightly.

"Well," Emma said: "I could use a drink…Anyone else?"

Everyone agreed and walked into the diner, Regina and Lena as last. Inside Henry picked out a booth while Emma and David pushed a table closer so everyone could sit. Granny was already making hot cocoa and Ruby had found a bottle of liquor.

Lena stayed back a bit, watching everyone. Than looking at Regina, Lena took a deep breath and spoke: "Mom…..Mom." It was only the second time Regina realized that the word was meant for her. For a moment she stood frozen to the ground, so did everyone else it seemed. "Mom?"

Now Regina turned around. She swallowed some happy tears away: "Yes?"

"Can we go home?" Lena asked.

"Yes, yes we can" Regina smiled. She pulled Lena in a tight hug and whispered: "I love you."

"I love you too, mom."

* * *

 **Next chapter coming soon.  
**


	10. Chapter 10

Running, wind in her hair. Flying, catching the wind under his wings. In a years' time Lena had gotten quite the hang on changing places with Elliot. She had learned to control her emotions and use them in a good and helpful way. Lena had gotten quite fast too. At the age of 11, almost 12, she could outrun Ruby easily. At least if she wasn't running as a wolf.  
After another good run in the woods Lena and Ruby arrived at Granny's diner for lunch. Regina and Henry were already sitting in a booth they'd chosen out. Lena ran to the booth.  
"Hi mom, hi Henry" Lena said happily. When she reached the table she saw Emma sitting in the booth too. "Hi…Emma…" she said surprised.  
"Emma is joining us today, is that okay honey?" Regina asked.  
"Yeah sure" Lena answered and took place next to the blonde.

After lunch it was time for Regina and Emma to go back to work. Henry was meeting up with a friend so Lena was going to hang out with Belle in the library. She had spent much time over there the past year. Reading had helped Lena a lot with learning how to control her emotions. Now Lena just like hanging out with the books, reading all kinds of stories.  
"I'll see you guys tomorrow" Emma said. Before she left Emma gave Henry a kiss on the head, she gave Lena a small hug and Regina…Regina got a soft kiss on the cheek. Lena thought her mom seemed to blush.  
"Bye mom" Henry called after Emma. Then he kissed Regina on the cheek and left too: "See ya mom."  
"Remember to be home at 8 pm" Regina reminded her son. Henry just waved his hand in understanding.  
"What's tomorrow?" Lena asked confused.  
"Emma is coming over for diner" Regina explained.  
"Oh. Any special reason?"  
"Mmmh…No, no special reason" Regina replied: "Now go on. I'll pick you up at the library when I'm finished at the office."  
Lena gave her mom a quick kiss and she left.

"Lena...Lena!" Regina called out to her daughter who was sitting outside in the garden: "Can you come help with diner, please?"  
Lena ran inside and saw her mom taking all the ingredients for dish she knew all too well: "Lasagna?"  
Regina nodded: "Emma and Henry are coming over for dinner."  
"Again?" It was Emma's week with Henry but the two of them had been coming over for diner the past four evenings.  
"Yes…You don't like them coming over?" Regina asked cautious.  
"No, it's not that…It's just…Why is Emma coming over for dinner so often lately?"  
Regina felt her stomach turning in knots. She knew she had to tell Lena eventually. Henry already knew and since Lena was asking about it right now… There wouldn't be a better time. Regina took a deep breath. "Lena can you come sit with me for a second?" Regina asked and gestured to one of the stools at the counter.  
"What's wrong?"  
"Nothing's wrong honey. I just want to talk to you for a bit."  
"About what?" Lena asked, taking a seat. She was the cautiously one right now.  
"About…Emma."  
"Emma?"  
"She…and I…We, we have been spending a lot of time together the past year and…we really enjoy each other's company." Regina took a moment to take another deep breath and collect some courage. "You know that Emma and I are good friends, right?"  
Lena nodded.  
"Well sometimes friendships can grow into something more."  
"Like what?"  
"Like…love…" Lena's face wore total confusion right about now. Regina saw that she needed to be more clear about what she wanted to say so she took another deep breath: "I'm dating Emma." Lena's face went blank, not knowing how to react to this knew information. "We've been seeing each other for a couple of weeks now and we thought it was time for you and Henry to know about it."  
"Oh…"  
"How do you feel about that?"  
Lena's mind was racing around. She didn't really know what to do with this information, let alone know how to feel about it. "I…Can I go back outside, please?" Lena asked, staring in front of her.  
"Honey, remember to talk to me."  
"I just…I wanna go outside…to think." Lena jumped of her stool and walked out of the kitchen door into the garden.  
Regina sighed. That could've gone better.

"Hello" Emma called out when she walked into the front door.  
"In the kitchen" Regina called back. "Where is Henry" she asked when she saw Emma entering alone.  
"He met up with a friend. He'll be here at six" Emma answered: "Something wrong?" Emma saw Regina standing in front of the counter looking outside, a bit sad.  
Regina sighed: "I told Lena."  
"About us? How did she take it?"  
Another sigh.  
Emma stepped around the counter to give her girlfriend a supporting hug. She wrapped her arms around Regina from behind. Regina gladly received the hug and let her head rest on the blonde woman's shoulder.  
"That good, huh?" Emma asked: "where is she now?"  
"In the garden" Regina replied: "I should go try and talk to her again."  
"Wait, let me try."  
Regina turned around in Emma's arms: "Are you sure?"  
"Yeah."  
Regina laid a soft kiss on Emma's lips to show her girlfriend her gratitude.

Lena was sitting under the apple tree in the middle of the garden. It was one her favorite places in the garden. It was a place where she could think. Lena was staring out in front of her, her mind still racing. It wasn't until Emma was standing a couple feet away from her that she noticed the blonde woman.  
"Can I take a seat next to you?" Emma asked.  
Lena shrugged: "I guess."  
"I heard your mom told you about us."  
Lena didn't reply. She just kept staring.  
"Can you tell me how you're feeling?"  
Lena thinks, then says: "Confused."  
"Okay" Emma replied, happy that the young girl was talking to her: "You know, if you have questions you can always ask me or your mom."  
A moment silence.  
"…How does it work?"  
"How does what work?"  
"…Falling in love."  
Emma had to smile thinking back on the moment she knew she had fallen for the charms of the beautiful 'evil queen'. "It kind of just happens, I guess."  
"…And how do you know…that you're in love?..."  
"Falling in love is about how someone makes you feel…Your mom makes me feel good about myself, complete…She makes me feel happy."  
Again a moment silence while Lena let's that sink in. Then she asks: "Do you make my mom feel happy?"  
"I hope so…But that's a question your mom can answer better, don't you think?"  
Lena suddenly stood up and walked towards the kitchen door. Emma followed her. Inside Lena called for her mother: "Mom?"  
"Yeah" Regina answered. She walked closer to her daughter until they stood right in front of eachother.  
"Mom, does Emma make you happy?"  
Regina was a bit surprised by the sudden question but quickly recovered and with a soft smile she looked from Lena to Emma and back: "Very much."  
Lena sighed, took a deep breath and replied: "Then I'm happy too…for both of you."  
Happy tears filled Regina's eyes. She wrapped her arms around her daughter and hugged her very tight.

It was time for diner. Regina took place at the head of the table with Emma on one side and Lena on the other. Henry walked inside just when Regina placed the delicious smelling lasagna on the table. He quickly gave a kiss to both his moms and then took place on the chair next to Lena. After the lasagna it was time for apple turn overs. Lena was still eating the last bit while the other were finished and enjoyed their cup of hot cocoa. She saw her mom placing her hand in Emma's and sharing a smile. Although Lena was happy for her mom and Emma, it was still gonna take some time for her to get used to the two holding hands and stuff.

"Well, I think it's time for us to go home" Emma said, standing up from the couch. It was almost nine a clock.  
"I guess you're right. It's a school night after all" Regina said, also standing up. She walked her girlfriend and son to the door. Henry gave a quick kiss and already walked to the car. Lena shortly looked away from the movie. She was surprised at what she saw, looking towards the entry hall, Emma and Regina kissing. Lena knew that her mom and Emma were together but still she never had seen her mom kiss anyone…like that. Lena had never even thought about Regina being with someone. When Regina pushed the door behind Emma she was still wearing a goofy smile when she walked back into the living room.  
"I'm going to bed" Lena said, jumping from the couch.  
"Oh, okay. Goodnight honey" Regina replied. With a quick kiss on the cheek Lena walked up the stairs still a bit confused about what had happened today.


	11. Chapter 11

"Lena, can you stay in class for a second?" Snow asked when the school bell rang for recess and all the students stood up from their chairs. Lena sat back down and waited for her teacher to come sit in the chair in front of her.

"Did I do something wrong?" Lena asked confused.

"Oh no, not at all" Snow reassured the young girl: "I heard your mom told you about her relationship with Emma so I just wanted to know how you're doing with that."

"You know about them too?"

"Yes, Emma told us a couple days ago. But I already had a feeling something was going on between those two."

"Oh…"

Snow could see there was something bothering the young girl: "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine. Can I go outside now, please?"

"Sure. But know that you can always come and talk to me, okay?"

Lena nodded and stood up from her chair. She didn't quite understand how Snow knew about Regina and Emma before they told her. She at least didn't notice anything.

* * *

After school Henry and Lena walked to Granny's diner together to meet up with their moms. They took place in the booth opposite Regina and Emma and ordered hot cocoa and a bear claw.

"It's just so great you two are together" Henry said smiling at the sight of his moms holding hands. He was definitively very happy.

"I know right" Ruby agreed when she brought their orders.

Lena looked up at her friend, a bit shocked: "You know too?"

"Yeah" Ruby smirked: "There not really good at hiding it." She walked away to take another customer's order.

"Ruby saw me and Regina on a date a while back" Emma explained.

"Oh…" was all Lena could say.

The rest of the afternoon Lena spent in silent while the others talked about school, work, plans. Regina noticed that there was something troubling her daughter since Lena was just staring at her cup and had barely touched her bear claw. Regina decided not ask her about it, that it was a conversation to have at home.

The car ride was spent in silence. When Lena, Henry and Regina walked through the front door of their house Lena wanted to run upstairs right away.

"Hey wait just a moment Lena" Regina stood at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at her daughter who was already half way up. "You were very quiet today. Did something happen at school?"

"No" Lena answered.

"Then is there something else bothering you" Regina asked. She already had a feeling what this was about. It was just the matter of getting her daughter to admit it.

"No, nothing's wrong. Now can I go up to my room? I'm tired."

Regina sighed: "Sure. I'll call when diner is ready."

"I'm not hungry" Lena said and ran up to her room.

Regina sighed and closed her eyes. She felt an arm fall around her shoulder. When she opened her eyes and looked sideways she saw her son smile at her. "She just needs a bit more time" Henry said reassuring.

"I guess you're right." Sigh. "Do you want to help me with diner."

"Sure."

* * *

Regina was pacing around in the kitchen the next morning, constantly checking the clock. Although it was Saturday, Regina had to go to work but she had hoped to see Lena before she had to leave. It was almost nine o'clock so Regina couldn't wait any longer.

"Okay, I'm going to work" she said to Henry, who was eating breakfast at the counter: "If Lena isn't up in five minutes can you go wake her, please? Ruby will be here to pick her up soon to go to the woods."

"Sure" he said, receiving a kiss on his cheek from his mother: "Bye."

Almost as soon as Regina closed the front door, the kitchen back door opened and Lena walked in. Henry just turned back around from putting away his dishes. He was surprised to see Lena and especially from where she came.

"I thought you were still asleep" he said.

"I was…kinda" Lena replied.

"In the garden?"

"Yeah. So?"

"You haven't slept there since you first moved in."

"Couldn't sleep. What does it matter to you anyway?"

"Hey, don't bite my head off. I'm just worried…and so is mom. I understand that you need time to accept that mom is with my mom but don't be angry at her."

"I'm not angry!"

"Could've fooled me."

A car horn sounded, announcing Ruby had arrived. Lena grabbed a banana, some cookies and bottle of juice and walked to the front door. Before she opened it she turned around to ask Henry a question: "Let me ask you something. Did you know about mom and Emma before they told you?"

Henry, a bit surprised by the question, calmly answered: "Yeah, it was kinda obvious."

Lena sighed and left, leaving a confused brother behind.

* * *

"Hang on a second" Ruby panted: "I need to take a break for a bit." Lena stopped running reluctantly. "What are you trying to run away from?" Ruby asked still gasping for air.

"Nothing."

"Oh come on. You only run that fast that long when you want to clear your mind."

Lena sighed and turned away from Ruby, not wanting to talk about it. She just wanted to keep running because her mind was starting to race again.

"Sweetie…" Ruby said, softly putting one hand on the young girl's shoulder. She felt Lena's muscles tense under her hand. After a couple seconds Lena relaxed. Ruby knew this sequence all too well. She had gone through it with her young friend very often the past year. "…It has to do with your mom and Emma, doesn't it?…"

Lena spoke quietly: "How is it that everyone seems to know they are together even before they tell them?"

"Is that's what this is about?"

Lena turned around: "Everyone had a feeling my mom and Emma were dating and I…I didn't even knew she was thinking about having a relationship with anyone…"

"Oh sweetie…" Ruby sighed, smiling sympathetic: "…You need to talk to your mom."

* * *

Lena stood in front of the front door. She had been standing there for about two minutes. Ruby was right. She needed to talk to her mom. She knew her mom was home because her car was in the driveway. Lena took a deep breath and pushed the front door open.  
Regina seemed to have been waiting for her daughter to come home. Regina stood up from her place on the couch when she heard the front door open.

"Hi" Lena greeted.

"Hi honey" Regina softly smiled: "Can we talk?"

Lena nodded and went to sit next to her mom.

"Honey, I see you are struggling with accepting me with Emma but please…don't be angry. It kills me when you're angry with me."

"I'm not angry with you, mom" Lena reassured. She sighed: "I'm angry with myself?"

Regina was confused: "Yourself?"

Another sigh. "Henry, Snow, Ruby,…Everyone seemed to have known about you and Emma before you even told them…Except me…" Sigh. "Mom…I didn't even know you were lonely that way…let alone you were dating…"

"Oh honey" Regina felt a weight fall of her shoulders, finally knowing what was truly bothering her daughter: "It's not your job to know that…"

"But…you're my mom."

"Yes, yes I am. And I probably should have talked to you more about how I am feeling. I'm always telling you to talk about your feelings and I seem to forget to take my own advice…Honey, you have nothing to be angry about. Okay?" Lena sighed and nodded. Tears were forming in her eyes and slowly rolling down her cheeks. Regina pulled her daughter into a tight hug. "I love you."

"I love you too, mom…And I am truly happy for you and Emma." She pulled out of the hug: "I like Emma and I like how happy she makes you. That's all that matters."

* * *

 **Next chapter coming soon.**


	12. Chapter 12

It didn't take long for Emma to move in at the Mills' home. David and Snow were definitively happy. They had now much more space to give Neal his own little room instead of his crib just standing in the middle of the apartment.  
It was almost exactly a month after Lena's birthday when Regina nervously brought up the topic. Lena felt that this was coming sooner than later and already knew how she felt about the subject.

"Mom…stop" Lena had interrupted her mom when she was trying to convince her daughter with a whole speech she had prepared. "I'd love for Emma to move in" Lena had smiled.

So now, after another two months living as a family, Lena felt complete. Well.. almost. Although she finally had a family like she always wanted there still seemed to be this empty little place, but for who… or what? The answer to that question would become clear in the next few weeks.

* * *

Regina woke up in the middle of the night because of a noise she hadn't heard since Lena first came to live with her. Back then she frequently had nightmares and Regina woke up to her daughter screaming in fear.

"Huh…what" Emma too heard the noise. Barely opening her eyes she asked: "What is that screaming?"

"It's Lena" Regina mumbled, rubbing her eyes and pushing herself out of bed.

"Want me to come with you?" Emma asked, but instead of pushing herself up she settled herself more on the warm spot where Regina had laid.

Regina had to smile at the sight: "No, it's okay. I'll be right back."

Lena was still calling out. It wasn't very clear what she said but Regina could make out things like 'No', 'Don't go' and 'Elliot'. When Lena had a nightmare it always seem to be about her dragon friend.

"Lena, honey…wake up. You're just having a bad dream" Regina said, sitting on the bed with her daughter trying to sooth her.

With a shock Lena woke up and sat upright: "Elliot!"

"Hey, hey…it's okay." Regina laid a hand on Lena's shoulder. She felt her shiver under her hand. Lena was still breathing fast when the tears started rolling down her cheeks. Regina pulled her into a hug and let Lena's head rest on her chest. "You're okay" Regina whispered: "You're okay." When Lena seemed to be calmer after a couple of minutes Regina tried to get her daughter to talk: "So, do you want to tell me what the dream was about."

Lena just shook her head.

"You know that you have never been able to go back to sleep when you had had a bad dream. Not until you talked about it."

Lena sighed. "I dreamed about Elliot…He…He is gonna leave…"

"What do you mean, leave you?"

Lena couldn't say anymore, she just started crying again.

The next few nights went all the same. Regina, Emma and Henry waking up to Lena's screaming. Sometimes even more than one time in one night. Finally, after the fourth night, Lena agreed to go talk to Dr. Hopper again since talking to her family didn't help.

"So, Lena, tell me about those dreams you're having" Dr. Hopper said.

Lena was sitting on the couch opposite him with bags under her eyes. She took a deep breath: "They're always the same…I see Elliot. He's telling me he needs to go and that I'm meant for something important but that he can't be a part of it."

"All dreams have a meaning. What do you think your dream means?"

"It means what it means…Elliot is gonna leave me."

"That's what you dream but what is the meaning behind the dream?"

"There's no meaning behind it…It doesn't even feel like a normal dream…It is more like Elliot is really trying to tell me something…"

Dr. Hopper nodded: "I understand it feels that way…Lena I'd like you to come and talk to me daily. At least for the rest of the week."

Lena sighed, not feeling understood: "Sure."

The nightmares kept going and the talking didn't seem to help. The whole Swan-Mills' family was exhausted but Lena was the worst. She was so tired that she started taking naps during the day but even those were disturbed by her returning nightmare. It made her very irritable and she lashed out to anyone for the smallest things. Even in class.

"Lena, follow me to the hallway please" Snow said with a stern face after an outburst during her class. Her classmates made an 'ooooh' noise when Lena stood up from her chair and followed her teacher out of class. "I understand you're tired but that behavior is unacceptable in class" Snow said when she had closed the classroom door.

"I'm sorry" Lena replied not looking up at her teacher.

Snow sighed: "How long have they been going on now?"

"Almost two weeks."

"I think you should go home for the rest of the day. I'm gonna call your mom."

Lena didn't have the energy to object so she walked along with Snow to the principal's office.

During the car ride home Lena and Regina didn't say anything but Lena knew there was coming a thunder speech. At home she slouched over on a chair in the kitchen. She heard her mom sigh, take a deep breath and then it began.

"Lena, this is the second time this week the school called because you were rude to your teacher. This can't go on. You can't talk to you teachers, or anyone for that matter, like that…even when you're tired like hell."

"I know, okay? I know…" Lena sighed. Tears from exhaustion rolling down her cheeks. "I just can't take it anymore…I'm so tired…"

"I know, honey…" Regina pressed a light kiss on her daughter's head: "I'll ask Dr. Hopper tomorrow if he can prescribe you something to help you sleep."

"I thought you didn't want that."

"True, but this can't go on."

Lena leaned towards her mom, grateful for her support and caring. Maybe after tomorrow she would finally get some sleep again.

Sadly they would never find out if medication would've helped Lena. That night was one of the scariest nights Regina would ever experience. Instead of waking up by the screaming of her daughter it was their son waking up both of his mothers.

"Moms…Moms!"

"Huh…Henry? What's the matter?" Emma asked.

"Something is wrong with Lena."

* * *

 **Next chapter coming soon.**


	13. Chapter 13

"Moms…Moms!" Henry tried to wake is mothers.

"Huh…Henry? What's the matter?" Emma asked.

"Something is wrong with Lena" he said worried.

That sentence woke up both woman with shock, blowing all the haze out of their eyes. Regina reached Lena's room first, followed by Emma and Henry. The door stood still ajar from when Henry opened it. Regina pushed the door open wider and what she saw scared the hell out her. Lena was still lying in bed but shaking all over.

"What is wrong with her?" Regina said, running to her daughter.

"It looks like she's having a seizure or something" Emma said, already running for her phone: "I'm calling 911."

"Is she gonna be okay?" Henry asked. He didn't know what to do to help. When his mother looked up from his sister, he saw the worry and helplessness in her eyes.

"They have send an ambulance" Emma said coming back into Lena's room: "Henry, can you go downstairs and wait for them?"

"Yeah" he said, glad he could do something to help.

Emma turned to Regina: "They said that we have to lay her on her side and see that she can't hurt herself by bumping into something but definitively not restrain her."

Together they pushed Lena, who was still jerking all over, to her right side. Regina sat herself on the bed behind Lena's back so she couldn't roll back. She looked at her daughter. She wished she could do more than this. She felt a hand fall on her arm. When she looked up she looked straight into Emma's beautiful big green eyes, telling her it was going to be okay.

* * *

It was the second time that night Regina heard that awful noise. Nurses and dokters ran into the room and Emma pulled her back. Lena's heart had stopped beating…again. The first time happened right after the ambulance had arrived at the hospital. Lena's seizure had stopped, which was good, but her heart had stopped too, which wasn't good.

"Why does this keep happening?" Regina asked Dr. Whale when they finally got Lena's heart beating again: "You better give some answers quick." For a moment Regina wore that typical 'evil queen' look.

"We're running every test there is Madame Mayor" Dr. Whale answered.

"Thank you Dr." Emma cut in before her girlfriend could lash out again. Dr. Whale nodded and left.

Regina turned to fall in Emma's strong arms and the tears just started flowing: "I can't take this anymore…I can't lose her, Emma…"

Emma knew nothing she would say that could take away Regina's worries and sadness so she just hugged her. Nothing more, nothing less. Just a supporting hug while Regina let her tears fall.

* * *

Regina woke up to the smell of bad coffee. She had fallen asleep sitting in a chair with her head on the hospital bed next to Lena. Soft lips were pressed to Regina's cheek.

"Morning" Emma whispered into Regina's ear.

Regina looked up to see Emma walk around the bed. Then she turned to look at the young girl lying in the hospital bed. It had been three days with no change. At least Lena's heart hadn't stopped beating anymore. According to Dr. Whale the test they did told them that medically there was nothing wrong with Lena. "Then why isn't she waking up?" Regina had asked angrily. Dr. Whale didn't have an answer to that.

"My parents are bringing Henry over later today" Emma said.

"How is he doing?" Regina asked. She missed her son but she was glad that Snow and David had welcomed him back into their home for the past days and nights.

"He's worried but considering he's doing pretty good."

"…Good…"

"Yeah."

"I was thinking last night…"

"Okay? About?"

"I think we should ask Gold for help."

"Gold?"

"There's nothing medically wrong with her so it has to be magical."

"Yeah, maybe. But even if it is magical do you really think it's wise to ask Gold for help?"

Regina sighed and let her head fall into her hands, leaning with her elbows on the bed: "No…I just don't know what else to do…"

"I'll go by the library later. Maybe Belle has found something. She's been searching through books ever since… It just seems a safer choice than Gold."

Regina nodded in agreement: "But if Belle doesn't have anything, I'm going to Gold."

* * *

"I think I've found it, or at least something" Belle said, walking into the hospital room holding a book in the air. The whole Mills and Charming family was there.

"You did?" Henry asked, eager to know what the bookworm found out.

"I found this book about dragons, more specifically what they do when they feel their end is coming" Belle said.

"And what has this got to do with my daughter?" Regina asked, feeling all the hope she had before being punched out of her.

"Well, Lena said that Elliot was trying to tell her something. She said that Elliot was leaving her, right?"  
Regina nodded.

"Well apparently dragons have a habit of isolating themselves when they feel they are going to die. I think this is Elliot's way of isolating himself. He's withdrawing within Lena because he can't go to a quiet cave or something like he would do normally. The only problem is that he's pulling Lena with him."

"Do you mean my daughter is going to die?" Regina asked, almost angry at the librarian for finding the book.

"I…I don't know" Belle stuttered, fearing the evil queen could return any minute. "There's something else…" she continued: "I found a chapter on a kind of dragon that describes Elliot pretty good. The book says that before this kind of dragon dies, they lay an egg."

"An egg?" Emma asked wide-eyed.

"Yes, but according to the book the dragon would only let go of his life if it has found someone or something that would take care of their offspring."

"And who would that be?" Snow asked, looking around the room. Nobody answered but all their eyes turned to the young girl lying quietly on the hospital bed.

* * *

 **Next chapter coming soon.**


	14. Chapter 14

"Once upon a time, there was a queen and she cast a glorious curse that gave her everything she wanted. Or so she thought. She despaired when she learned that revenge was not enough. She was lonely. And so she searched the land…" Regina stopped talking when the door of Lena's hospital room opened behind her.

"I'm sorry. Don't stop because of me" Emma apologized.

"I was just…" Regina couldn't finish her sentence because tears were welling up in her eyes.

"I know" Emma replied and gave her girlfriend a soft kiss on the head.

The door swung open again, Regina and Emma turned around to see Belle walk in. "Any change?" she asked. Both woman next to the hospital bed shook their head. "Uhm…Are you sure?..." Belle's stammered.

"What do you mean?" Emma asked confused. Regina shared her confusion.

Belle couldn't seem to be getting any words out anymore so she just swallowed hard and pointed to the young girl in the hospital bed. Regina and Emma turned around. What they saw made their eyes grow as big as those of Belle's.  
Lena was surrounded by a soft emerald green light. Like a protection spell, Regina thought. That moment Henry walked in the room with Snow, David and Ruby. The last one bumped against the Charmings because they froze to the ground at the sight of the green glowing girl.

"Hey, why…" Ruby protested until she too saw Lena glowing emerald green: "What's going on with Lena?"

"We don't know" Emma answered.

The light started to move over Lena's arms and legs. It gathered together on her chest where it made one big ball of emerald green light. Lena moved her arms without opening her eyes. She laid them against her chest with her hands around the ball of light, like she was holding it in place.

"What…" Emma started.

"…the…" Snow continued.

"…hell" Ruby finished.

The green light got brighter and brighter. It got so bright everyone had to look away. When it faded, the group turned there gaze back towards the young girl in the hospital bed. Instead of a ball of light, Lena was now holding an emerald green egg.  
Mouths fell open and gasps were heard. Then the biggest one of all when Lena gasped for breath and opened her eyes. It took her a moment to realize where she was. Everyone around her was too stunned to move or talk.

"Mom…" Lena said, turning to look at her mother. That seemed to be pulling Regina out of her haze, along with everyone else.

Regina couldn't hold back the tears. "Oh my…Lena…" she cried and leaned forward and kissed her daughter's forehead. When Regina released her lips she let her head rest on Lena's. Emma laid a hand on the young girls thigh and smiled, happy tears rolling down her cheeks. Meanwhile Ruby had walked around the bed and she too couldn't hold back her tears.

"Why is everyone crying?" Lena asked with a hoarse voice.

"We're all just really happy you're finally awake" Emma said, still smiling.

"Do you know what happened?" Henry asked.

Lena thought about it. Then she looked at her chest, where she was holding the egg. "Elliot" she softly said, the memories of her talks with Elliot coming back, and sighed: "He's gone."

"He's…dead?"

Another sigh. "Yeah." Lena pushed herself up so she could sit upright, her muscles feeling stiff.

"Be careful, honey" Regina said worried.

"I'm okay mom. I promise" Lena smiled reassuringly.

"The egg…" Belle said from the back of the room, her curiosity tingling: "Is it Elliot's?"

Lena nodded: "He said that I was chosen to protect it."

"Elliot chose you?" Henry said amazed: "Cool."

"Why did he chose you?" Regina asked confused: "I know you two were really good friends but…you're still a kid. How are you supposed to look after a baby dragon?"

"It's part of my destiny."

"Your destiny?"

"My destiny as a protector of dragons."

* * *

Regina woke with a startle. She had been dreaming about Lena, that's she was still in the coma-like sleep. She carefully jumped out of bed, not wanting to wake Emma. On her tippy toes she walked to Lena's bedroom and silently pushed open the door. At first Regina felt like the worry flowed away when she saw her daughter safely asleep but then she heard the soft sobbing.

"Lena?"

No reaction.

Regina walked further inside. Lena was lying with her back towards the door so at first Regina didn't see Lena's face. The closer she walked towards the bed, Regina finally noticed the tears rolling down the young girls face.

"Oh honey" Regina spoke softly and set herself down on the edge of the bed. She place a gentle hand on her daughters shoulder: "I was wandering when you would let go of the strong face you were putting up." The soft sobbing turned into real crying. Regina laid herself down behind Lena and pulled her daughter close to her chest. No words had to be said. Just the comfort of the hug was enough. They lay there for about ten minutes until someone in the hallway broke the silence.

"Honey?"

Regina turned around to see Emma in the doorway.

"Everything okay?"

Regina just smiled weakly. That's when Emma heard the sobbing. She knew enough. She walked around to the other side of Lena's bed and laid herself down. Lena was cuddled up between two of the most important people in her life. She was sad but she also felt safe. With a last glance at the emerald green egg that rested on a pillow near the window, Lena closed her eyes and finally fell asleep.

* * *

 **Next chapter coming soon.**


	15. Chapter 15

"Do you have a name yet?" a woman's voice asked. Lena looked up and saw a pair of green eyes look at her with a smile.

"Hey Emma" Lena greeted. She was sitting under the apple tree in the garden enjoying the afternoon sun.

"Don't you need to keep it warm or something?" Emma asked while she sat herself down next to the young girl. Lena reached out the egg for Emma to touch. The blonde looked questionable at Lena but slowly laid her hand on the egg. "It's warm…" Emma said surprised: "That's not just from the sunlight, is it?"

"No, it kinda keeps itself warm" Lena explained: "Apparently this dragon species keep themselves warm when they are in their egg…The sunlight helps or my body warmth but it isn't necessary. I read it in Belle's book."

Emma nodded amazed then she recalled the question she had asked before but hadn't gotten an answer to: "So, do you have a name yet?"

"I can't choose its name…" Lena stated: "It already has been given a name by Elliot."

"How do you know?"

"He told me."

"Elliot?"

Lena shook her head, then looked at the emerald green egg in her lap: "He did."

"The dragon inside that egg?" Emma asked with big eyes.

Lena nodded.

"How?" Both Emma and Lena looked up startled when they heard the question come from behind them. It was Regina. She had quietly walked up to her daughter and girlfriend.

"Wow, we didn't hear you" Emma stated.

Regina smirked but quickly turned back to her daughter and knelt down beside her. "How did the dragon in the egg tell you its name?"

"Telepathy" Lena said: "I didn't realize it until now but Elliot could use telepathy too."

"He did?" Emma asked.

Lena nodded and then turned back to her mother: "Remember in the enchanted forest you once said Elliot and me were so close that it seemed I could tell what he was thinking?"

It was Regina's time to nod.

"He was talking to me with telepathy."

"So, can you tell me now what its name is?" Emma asked for the third time.

Lena laughed at Emma's impatience. "Let me show you something" Lena said smiling: "Give me your hand…you too mom." Both women gave Lena one of their hands. Lena carefully laid them on top of the egg. Then she laid one of her own hands on the stack. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her breathing. Deep breath in…Slowly breathing out. Repeat.

Regina and Emma's eyes grew twice as big when they saw what happened to the egg. The shell seemed to become transparent. A soft deep yellowish glow inside the egg was visible with a dark silhouette of a baby dragon. The woman gasped.

"Hey little one" Lena spoke softly: "I want to introduce you to my mom Regina and her girlfriend Emma."

 _"Hi, Regina. Hi, Emma…I am Aero."_

* * *

"Aero? Where are you?" Lena called out to her newly hatched dragon. After three weeks of caring for the emerald green egg the first cracks had appeared in the shell. Regina quickly decided that keeping the dragon inside wasn't an option. So Lena had made a beautiful den for her new friend in the garden. Again Lena called out for Aero. The little dragon loved playing hide and seek. Then a small roar sounded. Lena looked up at the top of the apple tree. "There you are" Lena smiled: "You better come down from there. You know mom doesn't like it when you're in her apple tree."

Aero spread its wings and glided down, making a couple circles to make the drop less steep and landed on Lena's shoulder. One of his favorite places. He was still small enough to fit. With her emerald green friend on her shoulder, Lena walked inside through the kitchen door. In the kitchen she found Emma preparing dinner. She was cutting some vegetable for her spaghetti sauce.

"Doesn't your mom want Aero outside" Emma smirked.

"Mom's not home" Lena smirked back.

"Well, she will be soon…Ow damn it!" Emma had to swallow any curse words that would follow and put her finger in her mouth.

"What's wrong?" Lena asked startled.

"I cut my finger."

"Again?"

It hadn't been a good day for Emma to make dinner. She had cut in her finger twice already, well three times now. Lena moved to the cabinet where the bandages were already laying on top from before. She gave a new bandage to Emma to put around her finger.

"Nice. Are you starting a collection?" Lena had to hold her laugh.

Emma smirked.

 _"Are you still gonna be able to put that ring on Regina's finger?"_ Elliot asked. Both Emma and Lena heard him speak.

"Ring?...What ring?" Lena asked confused. She didn't see Emma's face freeze in shock when the dragon had asked that question.

 _"The one she bought to propose."  
_

Lena turned to look at Emma. "You're proposing?" Lena asked awestruck.

Emma was still wearing the same face frozen in shock. Slowly she nodded and was able to put a sheepish smile on her face.

"Awesome!" Henry almost shouted. He had been up in his room but had come down for a snack.

Emma smiled at her son and asked to both Henry and Lena: "Are you really okay with it?"

"Of course" was Henry's response. Then they looked at Lena, who was already smiling from ear to ear, not being able to hide her happiness. Emma sighed relieved.

"So when are you gonna propose?" Henry asked curious.

"If all goes well…Tonight."

* * *

"Do you think she asked her already?" Lena whispered.

Henry shook his head: "Or mom is gonna shout because she doesn't want to marry or she's gonna cry out of happiness…but she will definitively react loudly."

They were hiding on the top of the stairs behind the corner so they wouldn't be spotted if one of the woman would suddenly come into the hallway. It also gave them some time to run off if someone would come up the stairs.

"Are you serious!" Regina's voice sounded.

"She's asked her" Henry mouthed, a bit worried.

"She doesn't sound that excited" Lena whispered.

"Of course I will marry you!"

Relieve fell upon them and with broad smiles they ran down stairs. Henry was first. When he turned the corner he immediately turned around and held his sister back, blocking her view.

"Hey, what's the matter with you?" Lena asked confused.

"Oh believe me. You don't wanna see that" Henry said and then announced: "Kids in the room."

Chuckles were heard from behind Henry.

"It's clear" Emma said smirking.

"Weren't you two supposed to be in bed?" Regina said, trying to be stern but couldn't hide her smirk.

"How could we when we knew Mom was proposing to you tonight" Henry simply stated.

"You knew?" Regina asked. She turned her eyes to her newly fiancée.

"Yeah well…Aero isn't really good at keeping secrets, it seems" Emma answered sheepishly. They all had to laugh. Hugs and kisses followed soon after.

* * *

 **Next chapter coming soon.**


	16. Chapter 16

The married life really agreed with Emma. Everything just seemed to fall into place. In the past couple of years she didn't only find her son, her parents but also her true love, her true family. While those thoughts past her mind she took another sip of her coffee.

"Everything okay?"

"Huh?" Emma shook her head to get rid of the haze: "Lena…hi…What did you say?" Because of her daydreaming Emma hadn't noticed that the young girl walking into the kitchen.

"I asked if you were okay? You were kinda…smiling goofy."

Emma laughed: "Yeah, I'm fine. Better than fine even. I was just thinking about how happy I am."

"Okay…If you're done with that, can you help me with my school project?"

"Sure" Emma put her cup coffee down. "What was it again?"

"I have to do an interview of someone about their work."

"Right." Emma coughed, sat herself straight up on her stool and said: "Okay, I'm ready."

Lena took place opposite Emma at the counter with a notebook in front of her. She opened it and asked the first question: "How long have you been a sheriff?"

"Almost five years now."

"And what did you do before you were a sheriff?"

The interview continued like this for about twenty minutes. Lena carefully noted down Emma's answers so she wouldn't forget them later. After writing down the last one she looked up at Emma and smiled: "That was the last question."

"Do you have everything you need?" Emma asked to be certain.

Lena looked over her notes and nodded. "I only need to typed it out so it's a bit cleaner."

"You know, you're a pretty good interviewer."

"I am?" Lena asked surprised.

"Yeah. You ask good questions."

"Thanks."

"So what are your plans for the rest of the day?"

"I'm going to visit Aero."

"How's he doing with living in the woods?" Not long after the wedding they decided it was time for Aero to move out of the backyard. He was growing fast and needed more space.

"He's doing great. He definitively loves having more space to move."

"I can imagine. Say hi from me, okay?" Emma took her cup of coffee from the counter and stood up from her stool.

"I will" Lena promised and also jumped down. She grabbed her bag that was hanging on a chair, putting a bottle of water and some cookies and fruit in it. She flung it over her shoulder and made her way to the front door. When she exited the kitchen Lena automatically said: "Bye mom." Before she even completely realized what she said exactly Lena heard something shatter to the ground. She turned around in shock and found Emma frozen with the same shock, standing in front of a her broken cup on the floor. They stood there, staring. One very surprised, the other scared to death. Minutes seemed to go by.

Lena was the one who broke the silence first, sounding very scared: "I…I…I'm…sorry." Lena didn't wait for Emma to react and just ran to the front door. Emma didn't broke out of her frozen shock until Lena had already pulled open the door.

"Lena! Wait!" Emma called after the young girl, who was running down the street. Emma knew she couldn't keep up with Lena so she grabbed her phone and dialed her wife. As soon as Emma spoke the words 'Lena ran' Regina appeared in front of her in a cloud of purple smoke. After telling everything to Regina what had happened Emma looked at her wife and asked: "What do you think we should do? Should we go search for her?"

Regina thought about it: "I don't think so. I'm pretty sure she went to Aero like she said she would. I think we should wait for her here, at home. If she's not home when it's dark we'll go look for her."

Emma sighed, closed her eyes and let her head hang down: "It my fault she ran away. If I only…"

"Hey," Regina interrupted and put a finger under Emma's chin pulling her head up so Emma looked straight into her eyes: "It's not your fault. I think Lena just got startled from herself." She placed a soft kiss on her wife's lips.

* * *

Lena's heart was racing and not only from running. She stood in front of the front door with her hand floating above the door knob. With a deep breath she grabbed it and turned to push open the door. She had hoped to run up the stairs before anyone had noticed her coming in. No such luck.

"Lena…Can you come here for a moment?" Regina asked from out of sight.

Lena slowly walked through the living room into the kitchen, nervously looking from her mother to…well at the moment she didn't knew what to call the blonde woman.

"Come sit with us. We like to talk to you for a bit" Regina said.

Lena sat down and spoke nervously: "I'm really sorry…I…"

"Hey you don't have anything to be sorry about" Emma interrupted: "I'm actually really honored that you called me…'mom'…It just took me by surprise."

"Honey there is something we like to talk about with you. It's something Emma and I have been discussing for a while now but we decided not to bring it up until you were ready for it" Regina told. She pushed a bundle of papers over the table in front of Lena.

"My adoption papers" Lena stated.

"If Emma signs these like I did a couple of years ago, it would make us both your mothers legally."

"You want to be my mom?" Lena asked astonished.

"Yeah, of course I do. But you don't have to answer right away. Just think about it for a while" Emma said.

"I don't have to think about it..." Lena looks up to look into Emma's eyes: "I'd love it…I already see you like my mom…like you noticed this morning" she smirked.

"You really want this?" Emma asked excited.

Lena nodded, the smile on her face still growing. Regina and Emma copied that smile and of course the hugs followed.

* * *

 **Next chapter coming soon.  
** **I'd love to hear what you all think of my story.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Time jump of 3 years. Lena is 15 years old now and Aero has grown up quite a bit. Although he likes living in the woods of Storybrooke it is far from ideal for a dragon. Lena has to make a difficult decision.**

* * *

" _Are your sure this is the right decision?"_ Aero asked.

"Yes" Lena said decisive.

Aero bowed his head in acceptance. When he looked up again he asked: "When will you tell your mothers?"

Lena's face contorted into something painful and worried. She knew it wouldn't be an easy task and her moms would definitively object but to her this was the best option. It was the only way she could be sure Aero would be safe…and she could finally fulfill her destiny. In the distance Lena heard the bells of the clock tower ring five times.

"Damn it" she said and picked up her bag pack: "I was supposed to be at Granny's at five o'clock. I will see you tomorrow. Bye Aero." Lena was already running back towards the town.

 _"You really need a watch, you know"_ she heard Aero say in her head. Lena smirked but kept running. She really did need a watch.

* * *

Regina looked at her watch. "Late…again" she mumbled.

"She'll be here soon" Emma said, placing a soft kiss on Regina's cheek.

"Are you sure she's not my sister by birth because she seems to have inherit the 'being late' gene from you mom" Henry said to Emma.

"I was thinking the same thing" Regina smirked.

"Hey" Emma said offended and softly elbowed her wife and tried to kick Henry under the table but he was too quick to pull his legs out of reach. They laughed. At that moment a panting young girl stepped into the diner. She walked straight to the booth where her family was sitting and took place next to her brother.

"Sorry" she said with very apologetic eyes.

"We really need to get you a watch" Regina said with a lightly stern voice.

* * *

" _Have you told them yet?"  
_

"No."

 _"Don't you think it's time."  
_

"Yes."

 _"Then what are you waiting for?"  
_

"I don't know…" Lena let her head fall into her hands. She sat with her back against a tree and her knees pulled up. Aero was lying next to her. "I'm scared" Lena finally continued.

 _"Of what?"  
_

"They're gonna be really mad, I'm sure of it."

 _"I guess it won't be easy to accept your decision but I do think they'll understand. They're really smart women, you know."  
_

"Of course I know. It's just…"

 _"Just what?"_ A twig broke to their left. When Lena turned her head she saw Ruby a couple feet away.

"Lena?" she asked: "Everything okay?"

"Yeah. Everything is fine" Lena answered not very convincing.

"Okay…Do you wanna try that again with telling me the truth?"

Lena sighed: "I guess."

Ruby placed herself next to Lena, all her attention focused on the girl beside her. Ruby had a feeling something big was going on with her young friend.

* * *

"They deserve to know."

"I know."

Lena and Ruby stood alongside each other in front of the front door of the Mills-Swan house. After the young dragon trainer had explained what was going on, Ruby tried to convince her friend to tell her parents too. It took a while but in the end Lena agreed.  
Ruby placed a hand on her friends shoulder, slightly squeezing it in support. Lena took a deep breath before she opened the front door. It seemed like she had done that a lot the past couple of years.

"Moms?" Lena called out when she entered the hallway.

"In here" Emma called back from the kitchen. When Lena and Ruby entered Emma and Regina both turned their heads up to look at their daughter.

"Oh hey Ruby" Emma greeted surprised, which Regina shared. The quick look shared between Lena and Ruby didn't go unnoticed by the mothers.

"Something going on?" Regina asked curious.

Another quick look, a sigh and then Lena spoke: "I'm going back to the enchanted forest with Aero."  
It seemed like someone pushed a mute button. Emma and Regina were frozen in shock. Both staring at their daughter. Lena didn't know what to do. Look at her parents or just run for her life. Neither seemed a good option at the moment so she too stood still in place and looked at the ground.

Ruby on the other hand thought the silence was very impressive since the other two women weren't particularly people who'd be found tongue-tied easily. Finally she was the one who broke the silence: "Talking about ripping of the bandage, huh."

"Why?" was all Regina could bring out at the moment.

Lena found the courage to look back up. For the umpteenth time that day she took a deep breath: "Aero is getting to big to stay in Storybrooke. He needs to be able to fly freely and live amongst other dragons. He needs to live in the enchanted forest."

"Okay…" Emma nodded and walked around the corner to go stand next to her wife and put an arm around her: "But why do you have to go to the enchanted forest too?"

"Aero has never been on his own. He won't know how to survive and…"

"And what?" Regina asked, seeing her daughter struggle to bring out the next words.

"And I need to fulfill my destiny."

"Your destiny…as a dragon protector?" Emma asked.

Lena nodded: "I can't be a dragon protector here, in Storybrooke."

"Aren't you protecting Aero?" Regina asked.

"I don't think that's what Elliot meant as my destiny" Lena replied with a soft smile.

Regina seemed to realize her daughter was right. Her tension floated away and was replaced by a proud but sad feeling. She stepped forward and took one of Lena's hands. "I'm not ready for you to go." Tears were filling Regina's eyes.

Lena pulled her mom into a tight hug. "I know" she whispered: "But I believe this is something I need to do." They pulled out of the hug. Lena turned to her other mother. Tears were rolling over the blonde woman's cheeks. "Mom…are you oaky?" Lena asked carefully.

"Yeah…oh I'm sorry I don't wanna cry. It's just…I'm proud of you" Emma said sobbing. Now it was time for Emma to receive a hug. Both Lena and Regina put their arms around the blonde, who chuckled through her sobbing.

Behind them other sobbing was heard. The Mills-Swan family turned their heads and saw Ruby softly smiling through her tears: "This is so sweet." They all had to laugh.

After the laughter died down Regina turned back to look at her daughter: "When are you leaving?"

"I was thinking after Henry's birthday" Lena answered.

"But that's in a week" Regina stated.

"It won't get any easier if I'll postpone it."

Regina sighed: "I know."

Lena smiled reassuringly at both her mothers. Suddenly that smiled faded and Lena's face contorted in pain. She kludged her hands against her head and squeezed her eyes closed. "Aaaaaah…hungge" Lena groaned. Her legs felt like jelly. She thought she would fall to the ground any second but before she could three women surrounded her to slowly lower her down.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Regina's voice sounded very worried.

"Aero" was all Lena could bring out through the pain.

"What about Aero?" Emma asked.

Lena tried to concentrated and explain what she was feeling, what she was hearing. No words left her mouth, only a terrifying scream.

* * *

 **Next chapter coming soon.**


	18. Chapter 18

" _Lena!...I need you!...Lena come to me…Please help…"  
_

The words kept pounding through her head. Lena covered her ears but of course that didn't help. Aero's telepathy was uncontrolled and fear was mixed in his words. There was something very wrong and the dragon needed Lena's help. But at this point Lena could barely keep her eyes open. Through her closed eyes tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Lena…Lena!...Lena, tell us what's going on."

Regina's words seemed to come from far away. Lena wanted to answer but wasn't able to because of Aero's cry for help in her head. She couldn't focus to form any sentence so to Lena there was only one option to let the women around her know what was going on. She searched, with her eyes still closed, for a hand, any hand. It didn't matter which woman saw what she saw as long as one did. Lena didn't know if it would work but in one of Belle's books she had read about channeling telepathy. Her hand landed on a soft warm hand. Lena felt a wedding ring so it had to be one of her mothers. By the gasp heard Lena knew that it had worked, that she channeled Aero's telepathy and that it was Emma who was now seeing and hearing everything she did.

"Oh my god, that was one of the most terrible things I've experienced" Emma spoke after Lena released her hand. The telepathy bond had lasted for only a short minute but Emma was glad it was over.

"What?" Ruby asked, looking from Emma to Lena: "What just happened?"

"I…I'm not sure" Emma answered honestly: "I just know that Aero's in a lot of trouble. We have to go to him right away."

"I wanna come" Lena panted. Experiencing this strong of a bond had really drained the energy out of Lena. She tried to stand up but her legs still felt like jelly and Regina put her body against her daughter to support her.

"I don't think that's a good idea" Regina said: "You can barely stand."

"No…I…I need to" Lena objected and pushed herself away from her mother to show them she was strong enough. No such luck. Lena collapsed back into Regina's arms.

"Lena you need to rest" Ruby said, laying a hand on her friends head: "Emma and I will go to the woods to find Aero. It'll be okay."

Lena didn't spoke. She didn't had the energy to object anymore. Emma and Ruby made their way to the front door. "We'll take my car" Emma suggested.

"Be careful" Regina called after the women. Emma looked back around. She and Regina shared a meaningful look which said more than words could. Then it was time to go.

"I can't lose him" Lena softly spoke.

Regina looked down at her daughter laying in her arms. "I know." She didn't say more than that. She couldn't promise Lena that Aero wouldn't be harmed because she didn't know that. Regina sighed and pulled her daughter closer into a hug. At this moment all she could give to her daughter was support. Support and love.

* * *

Emma and Ruby were driving in Emma's yellow bug towards the woods. They had almost reached the toll bridge. They had spent most of the car ride in silence. Now Ruby decided to break that silence. She needed some answers.

"Where in the woods is Aero?" Ruby asked. Emma just turned her head and Ruby received a look of uncertainty. "You don't know?" Ruby asked shocked: "What were you planning on doing? Checking the whole forest?"

"I don't know?" Emma said apologetic: "I thought we could look for signs of Aero…like smoke or fire."

"What exactly did you experience when Lena took your hand?"

"I think she showed me what she was seeing and hearing."

"And what was that?"

"Aero, in danger."

"Anything else?"

Emma shook her head: "It was very chaotic. I saw these flashes of things Aero was seeing and at the same time Aero was screaming in my head."

"Did you recognize anything in the flashes? Maybe something that can pinpoint his location?"

"I don't know" Emma said, thinking hard: "I saw the water well but he's not there. I saw him pass it. And there were people…I think they were chasing Aero…" Emma turned her head towards Ruby. She found the brunette staring through the front window with eyes twice as big. "What's wrong?"

"Where these people chasing Aero by any chance wearing black armor?"

"Yes, how did you know?" Emma asked surprised. Before Ruby could react a terrifying roar was heard. Emma turned towards the sound and was just in time to see Aero tumble out of the woods from her left. Behind Aero black nights appeared. She pushed the breaks and brought the car to a stop. The two women jumped out of the yellow bug and started running towards the dragon.

"Ruby" Emma called over: "Wolf time."

Ruby just nodded. She had learned to control the wolf in her that she could transform at will, even without a full moon. Ruby let the wolf energy flow through her body and soon enough she was running on four paws. The black nights had clearly not expected for anyone to come to help the dragon, let alone a large wolf. In no time Emma had won a sword from one of the knights and was fighting her way closer to Aero. She could see ropes around hid body.

"Ruby, the ropes" Emma called to the wolf.

The wolf looked over at Aero and understood. It jumped over two knights and snapped the first rope between its teeth. The second and the thirds rope quickly followed. Aero could spread his wings again. There was only one more rope holding him grounded, the one around his mouth. Emma was closer to that rope than the wolf so she swung her sword around and slashed.

"Go!" Emma shouted at Aero.

The dragon didn't wait for another opportunity and pushed himself of the ground. His wings making a lot of wind. While the knights were distracted Emma and the wolf took their chance to take off too. The wolf ran to the woods for more cover and Emma jumped back into her car. It wasn't until she started the motor the knights noticed them leaving. Emma didn't wait for them to catch up so she quickly turned the car around and raced back to town. She knew Aero and Ruby would got back too. In town they had their best chance at fighting their enemies. More friends and family to help and most of all…more magic. Emma was pretty sure they would need it to defeat the black knights.

* * *

 **Next chapter coming soon.  
** **Let me know what you think.**


	19. Chapter 19

Emma arrived back at home right after a panting Ruby. Regina was already waiting in the opening of the front door. Emma ran up to her wife and hugged her tightly.

"Are you okay?" Regina asked looking from the blonde to the brunette. Emma had called Regina from the car to update her. Since that phone call Regina had been waiting anxiously for her wife and friend to come home.

"Yes, we're fine" Emma said. She pulled out of the hug: "Where's Lena?"

"She in the backyard. Aero arrived about five minutes ago" Regina replied.

The three woman walked inside the house, through the living room, passing the kitchen and out the back door. They found the young girl standing before the dragon, their foreheads resting against each other.

"I know" they heard Lena speak softly when they walked closer.

"Lena, how are you feeling?" Ruby asked. She was still a bit out of breath from running.

Lena turned to look at the three woman. "I'm okay" she said with a soft smile.

"Hey Aero" Emma greeted the dragon: "Are you alright?"

Aero nodded once and turned back to face Lena. They made eye contact. Lena brought a hand up to touch the face of the dragon. She smiled a bit sad. It was clear to the three bystanders that the young girl and dragon were having a telepathic conversation.

"What's wrong?" Regina asked worried.

Once more Lena turned to face her parents and her friend. She took a deep breath and answered: "We need to go…now."

"Go?...You mean you and Aero wanna leave for the Enchanted Forest right now?" Ruby asked but already knowing the answer is yes.

Lena nodded: "These black knights won't stop hunting Aero until they caught him and they will burn down Storybrooke completely if they need to."

"Why do you say that?" Emma asked confused.

"How did they even found Aero here? The black knights didn't come to Storybrooke after the second curse" Ruby stated.

"I know because of Elliot" Lena answered her mother, ignoring Ruby's question.

"Elliot?" Now all three of them were confused.

"He encountered them once. He lived in a different world. Elliot was able to shake them off by fleeing to the Enchanted Forest. The knights couldn't follow him that way."

"But that's before Elliot met you. How do you know that he encountered the black knights" Ruby stated.

"Because I still have his memories."

"Wait what?" Regina said astonished: "I thought that you didn't have them since Elliot…"

"I never lost them" Lena answered honest.

Emma and Regina were speechless…but only for a moment. Just when Regina wanted to lecture her daughter about keeping such important information as a secret Ruby stepped in.

"Okay, it's clear that it wasn't smart of Lena to keep that it a secret but that doesn't matter right now. We need to figure out how we're gonna fight these black knights" she said to the women next to her.

"You won't have to" Lena said.

"What do you mean?" Emma asked.

"If I'm correct, and I'm pretty sure I am, Aero and I just need to go to the Enchanted Forest and they will follow and leave you alone."

"But then you'll be all on your own. Those knights will capture you both" Ruby said worried.

"They won't be able to follow us" Lena answered with confidence.

"You're holding something back" Regina looked suspicious at her daughter: "And how are you even going to open a portal so quickly?"

"Aero can open portals." Three pair of eyes grew twice as big. "Elliot could too. That's how he escaped from the knights years ago." No reaction. "And Aero and I have been practicing. He's really good at traveling through realms." This brought at least one of the women out of her shock.

"What!?" Regina yelled: "You have been traveling through realms!?" Lena and Aero both shrank a bit because of the heavy reaction of Lena's mother. "That's why you have been late so much, haven't you?" Regina continued accusingly with pinched eyes.

Lena just shrugged and smiled apologetic.

"Okay, okay" Emma said waving up her hands to calm down her wife: "There's nothing we can do about that now…Lena, you said that you've been traveling through worlds…"

Lena nodded.

"Is it possible that the black knights have followed you here?" Ruby continued Emma's question.

Lena looked at Aero, who was still next to her. "Do you think that's possible?" she asked the dragon.

 _"I guess. We didn't really keep an eye out on who jumped in the portal after us. We never needed to."_

Lena let her head down and felt disappointed, disappointed at herself. "This is my fault. I'm so sorry" she spoke softly. Lena felt a couple of arms embrace her.

"It's okay. We can fix this…together" Regina comforted her daughter. She felt bad she had overreacted.

"How?" Lena asked looking up at her mother.

"I think I have an idea" Emma said. She had a little glint in her eyes. Regina recognized it as Emma's so called lightbulb-above-the-head-glint. Most times it meant that Emma indeed had a good and useful idea.

* * *

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Snow asked her daughter.

"No…But it's the best chance we have" Emma replied.

After the blonde had told Regina, Ruby and Lena her plan they all called friends and family to help. Quickly the whole gang had gathered at the docks. It was the safest place in town to open up a portal. Emma, Regina, Snow, David, Ruby, Dorothy, Henry, Hook, Robin and his merry men, Zelena, Belle and Lena stood huddled up in a circle. Aero was standing right behind Lena with his head raised above his best friend.

"What a surprise the crocodile isn't here" Hook said, rolling his eyes.

"Does everyone know what they need to do?" Emma asked, ignoring Hook.

They all nodded. Emma's plan was pretty simple, theoretically at least. First Aero will open up a portal to the Enchanted Forest. When the knights see what's going on, Aero and Lena jump into the portal. Lena was pretty sure that the knight were going to follow them and that's exactly what Emma is counting on. All their friends and family are there to make sure that the knight indeed jump into the portal but not to close after Lena and Aero. When the duo arrives at the Enchanted Forest Aero will need to redirect the portal to a whole other world. In theory this was a perfect plan but the only problem was that Aero had never done something like this. Most of the people spread out to take their places. Lena and Aero stayed in the middle of the docks.

"Good luck" Henry smiled at his sister before running to his place on Hook's boat.

Ruby and Dorothy were next. "Be safe" Dorothy said. Lena nodded. Tears filled Ruby's eyes. She wasn't able to say anything so she just gave her friend a strong hug.

"I'll miss you" Lena whispered.

Last but not least Regina and Emma walked closer to their daughter. A tear rolled down Regina's cheek. Lena took a hand from each of her mother's into her own and squeezed it softly to reassure them that everything was going to be okay. Regina pulled her daughter in a tight hug. Emma put her arms around her two favorite girls.

"I love you" Lena said.

"We love you too" Emma replied since Regina was to choked up.

"Sorry to break up this sweet goodbye but those bloody knights are almost here" Hook called from his lookout position on his boat. Emma pulled Regina by the hand away to take their positions.

"Take care of my little girl" Regina said to Aero when they past the dragon.

Aero nodded then turned to Lena: _"Ready?"_

"Let's do this" Lena replied with a smile.

Aero turned to the ocean. He closed his eyes and breathed slowly in and out. In front of the dragon a small ball of emerald green light appeared, slowly growing bigger and bigger. The black knights turned the corner. When they saw what the dragon was doing they upped their pass.

"Hurry up Aero" Lena said, seeing the knights come closer.

 _"It's ready."_

* * *

 **Next chapter coming soon.** _  
_


	20. Chapter 20

Lena and Aero rolled out of the emerald green portal onto a soft carpet of grass. The dragon immediately found his focus back and concentrated on the portal with only one thing on his mind, change its destination. At first nothing seemed to happen. But just when Lena thought a black shape was appearing into the emerald green light the portal closed.

"Do you think it worked?" Lena asked uncertain, looking up at her friend.

 _"The portal is closed and no black knights are here with us so…I guess so."_

Lena sighed and relaxed a bit. That's when she took in her surroundings. They were standing in a beautiful grass meadow encircled by trees. Lots and lots of trees. And in the background mountains formed a hilly skyline.

"Wow. It's beautiful."

 _"Of course…Don't you recognize it here?"_

"What do you mean? Should I know this place?"

Aero nodded in the opposite direction of where Lena was looking to. The young girl turned around. That's when she saw it. A big tall tree high above all the other trees.

"No way. This can't be real." Lena looked amazed at her friend. She couldn't help but smile. Lena started running towards that big tree with Aero close behind her. It didn't take them long to reach it. Lena's smile got even brighter when she was close to the big three. It was standing on a small hill and under the roots was a cave big enough for Aero to go in.

 _"I thought that we could live here…You know…just like you and Elliot did"_ Aero said a bit uncertain. He didn't know what Lena thought of the idea.

Lena sensed her friend's uncertainty. She turned around smiling: "I love it." Aero relaxed. "How did you know where Elliot and I lived?"

 _"I got a pretty good picture from your mind and when I created the portal I just focused on that picture."_

Lena nodded in understanding. She twirled around thinking about all those memories she made with Elliot here. "This place hasn't change a bit" she smiled: "Thank you Aero." She ran to her friend and put her arms as far around his neck as she could. Aero gladly received the hug. "So, we should probably go search for some food. I'm getting kinda hungry" Lena said after pulling out of the hug.

 _"Why don't you go look for food and I'll get a fire started"_ Aero suggested.

"Okay…but please be careful not to burn down our new house" Lena smirked.

The dragon grumbled at the young girl who laughed and walked into the woods. She remembered the way to the river quiet well. She and Elliot had caught fish there so many times. It had been their main source of food. Hopefully that didn't change.

* * *

Lena arrived back at the tall tree, where a fire was burning cozily, with a dozen fishes hanging on nooses by their tails over her shoulder. She was glad that she had been able to grab a backpack at home with some handy tools like rope, a pocket knife, a compass, a blanket…Stuff she could really use. The rope and pocket knife had been really helpful with her fishing. Lena settled herself down by the fire and started cleaning a thin but strong branch. With her pocket knife she scraped all the bark of the branch. Aero came out the cave and settle down next to her.

 _"Mmmh. Looks good."_

"Here." Lena tossed the fish over to Aero but kept two for herself that she speared on the branch that was now clean and held it above the fire. Aero just ate his fish raw.

 _"I found moss when I was collecting wood for the fire and mad a bed with it for you."_

"Thanks Aero, that's really sweet" Lena smiled at her friend, while turning her fish around: "I'll admit, it will take some time to adjust to this lifestyle again."

 _"You have camped out with me in forest in Storybrooke before…"  
_

"Yeah, I know but whenever something went wrong or I was hungry I could always go home…Can't do that know, can I…"

Aero nodded in understanding.

After finishing her diner Lena decided to turn in for the night. It was already going dark and she was pretty tired. Aero followed her into the cave and laid down first. Although the dragon had made a very comfortable bed for her, Lena laid herself down against her friend. She used to sleep that way with Elliot too. In the beginning Lena was a bit scared to sleep next to the big dragon because she thought that Elliot would roll over in his sleep and end up on top of her. Turned out that it was the other way around. One morning Lena found herself awakening on top of Elliot's belly, moving up and down in sync with the dragon's breathing. Lena was pulled out her thoughts by a soft voice speaking in her head.

 _"Lena…"  
_

"Yeah?"

 _"…Do you already miss them?"  
_

"Yeah." Sigh.

 _"…Me too…"_

* * *

Lena woke up with a wonderful smell of baked fish filling her nostrils. With a yawn and a lot of stretching she pushed herself into a sitting position. Walking out the cave Lena had to blink a couple times to let her eyes adjust to the bright sunlight that was slowly pushing through the trees. Aero had already caught them breakfast and had roasted Lena's fish. Happily Lena accepted her breakfast.

"So…Any ideas…what we could do…today?" Lena asked between bites. Just when Aero wanted to suggest something they heard a loud roar coming from their right.

"What the hell…"

 _"That sounded like…"  
_

"I know…"

 _"Could it be?..."  
_

"But I thought…" Another roar. It seemed to come from a bit more closer.

 _"Should we…?"  
_

Lena stood up and jumped on Aero's back, right before his wings. "Let's go."

Aero pushed of and set course into the direction where the roars had come from.

* * *

 **Next chapter coming soon.**


	21. Chapter 21

"Over there" Lena said pointing a little to her left.

Aero flew in the direction the girl on his back pointed out. They had been flying for about twenty minutes searching for the source of the roaring they had heard earlier. It seemed to move around a lot because just a minute before, Aero and Lena were flying the other way. They had a pretty good idea of what the thing was that made them jump up at breakfast this morning but they wanted to find it to confirm.

"It's fast."

 _"I know…Do you really think it can be…you know?"  
_

"It's the only creature I know that sounds that way."

That's when Aero saw a yellow blob flashing right underneath them. He went in a dive and dove right into the forest. Moving very agile between the trees Aero was able to follow the yellow blob. Lena noticed the direction they were going and knew that they were headed towards a very deep and dangerous cliff. She pushed herself up so she could set her feet on Aero's back. The dragon seemed to understand what Lena was planning. He took up as much speed as he could to get closer to the yellow blob.

 _"Ready?"  
_

"Ready."

With a strong swing Aero threw his back up so Lena got thrown up in the air, flying over the yellow blob and landing a couple dozen feet in front of it. The yellow blob stopped abruptly. As soon as it stopped the form of itgot more clearer and in front of Lena stood a panting little yellow dragon. It looked over its shoulder hoping to see a way out but Aero was already blocking it.

"Wow. It's gorgeous."

 _"It's so small."  
_

"Do you think it's still a baby?"

 _"Maybe…or it could just be a small species."_

The little yellow dragon grumbled.

"Hey, it's okay" Lena said, putting her hands up trying to sooth the scared dragon: "We won't hurt you."

It stopped grumbling but still the yellow dragon didn't seemed to trust the situation, or Lena and Aero. Lena took a deep breath and slowly brought one arm horizontal so her hand was stretched out towards the yellow dragon. The dragon was surprised by this action. Lena stepped a couple steps forward in a crouched position. Again the dragon grumbled. Lena decided to have a leap of faith and she turned her head away and closed her eyes, with her arm still outstretched.  
Aero stayed calm, which was a good sign. Minutes seemed to pass by. Then suddenly Lena felt warm scales touch the palm of her hand. She sighed. Slowly turning around and opening her eyes. Lena saw that the little yellow dragon had its snout pressed against her hand and his eyes radiated tranquility.

"Hey there" Lena said with a calm voice and a soft smile: "You're a cute one aren't you."

 _"What's your name?"  
_

The dragon looked around alarmed. It definitively had never experienced telepathy.

"It's okay" Lena tried to sooth her new friend: "It's just Aero." She nodded to the emerald green dragon. "He can talk to you…and you can talk to him."

A moment of silence.

 _"His name is Ghrian."  
_

"It's nice to meet you Ghrian. I'm Lena and Aero is my friend." Lena was petting her new friend when an unknown voice scared her to death.

"How the hell did you do that?"

* * *

Lena stood in front of Ghrian in a protective way and Aero stood behind them with spreaded wings, ready to fire at the stranger with the first wrong move they made.

The stranger repeated themselves: "How did you that?"

"Why should I answer you?" Lena replied.

The stranger noticed the young girl in front of her was on edge. "I'm sorry. I should've introduced myself first. I'm Mulan."

Lena relaxed a bit when hearing that name: "You're Mulan?"

"Yes…"

"Ruby and Dorothy told me about you."

"You know Ruby and Dorothy?"

"Yeah, they're my friends. I'm Lena."

"Wait, you're Lena? The girl who's fused with a dragon?"

"Well, I was that girl. Elliot died a couple years ago."

"Oh…I'm sorry. But who is this than?" Mulan asked nodding towards the green dragon.

"That's Aero…He's Elliot's offspring" Lena explained. Aero and Mulan nodded to each other.

Then Mulan turned back to Lena: "Now…can you tell me how you were able to approach that little yellow dragon? I've been trying the past weeks and he won't let me closer than twenty feet."

"I guess I just have a way with dragons…And Aero is a big help too."

 _"Yeah, I helped her talk to Ghrian."  
_

Mulan looked around bewildered, wondering where the voice came from: "What the hell was that?"

Lena chuckled: "That was Aero. He can use telepathy to talk to me or others." The yellow dragon nudged his nose against Lena's legs. She looked down at the little one and smiled. "Why were you after Ghrian?"

"Is that his name?"

Lena nodded.

"Well…there aren't many dragons left anymore in the Enchanted Forest and I've been trying to locate as many dragon to try and protect them."

"How's that working out?" Lena asked with a smirk, already having a pretty good idea what the answer was.

Mulan sighed: "Not that well…Dragons don't seemed to like being around people…Well, with the exception of you apparently…Hey, maybe you could help me." Mulan looked hopeful at the young girl before her.

Lena looked over his shoulder to Aero: "What do you think?"

 _"I wanna help save dragons. Otherwise I will be the only dragon again."_

"Then let's do it."

And so a new adventure began as Lena and Aero guided their two new friends to their home. Luckily it was big enough for another person and a dragon. That evening Lena and Mulan discussed some basic rules around the camp fire while Aero and Ghrian played around. The first and most important rule was not to tell anyone about their dragon friends unless they had discussed and agreed on it together. An couple hours later they had all searched a comfortable place to sleep. Like the previous night Lena leaned against Aero.

 _"Mulan is nice. I like her."  
_

"Me too."

 _"Do you think she can help you fulfil your destiny?"  
_

Lena thought about it: "I don't know…Maybe…" Sigh. "I hope so."

* * *

 **Next chapter coming soon.**


	22. Chapter 22

**2 years later – Storybrooke**

* * *

A phone rings.

"Hello, sheriff Swan speaking… Wait, say that again… Leroy, are you sure you aren't just seeing things because you're a bit drunk…"

"Hey I can hold my liquor, thank you very much, and yes I'm sure. The freaking thing just flew over the clock tower almost putting the damn thing on fire." Regina could hear Leroy yelling through the phone.

"Okay, calm down. I'll come and take a look" Emma said trying to calm the grumpy dwarf. She pushed the red button on her phone.

"What was the dwarf stressing out about?" Regina asked mockingly but also a bit worried.

"Well…" Emma started: "apparently Leroy saw a very big birdlike creature flying over town that spitted fire out of its mouth."

"That sounds a lot like a dragon?"

"Yeah, that's what he said…I just thought it sounded crazy since the only two dragons that have ever been in Storybrooke are Elliot and Aero. One of them is dead and the other lives in another world."

"Well there's only one way to find out if Leroy is right" Regina concluded and stood up from her place on the couch: "Ready?"

"You're coming with me?"

"I am the mayor of this town my dear" Regina winked.

Emma smiled, grabbed her car keys and walked to the front door. She held it open for her wife and then closed the door behind her. The sheriff's car was parked in front of the house at the side walk. They quickly jumped in and took off. It only took them five minutes to reach the clock tower. Emma parked just in front of it where Leroy was waiting with a flask in his hand.

"Took you long enough" Leroy complained.

Both women looked annoyed at the dwarf. Emma took a breath and spoke: "So, do you wanna tell me what happened?"

"I already told you on the phone. A dragon flew over and spit fire at me."

"And where is this dragon now?" Regina asked, looking around.

"I don't know. It flew away ten minutes ago but I didn't really see where it was going since it's dark" Leroy said annoyed.

"Then there isn't much we can now, is there" Regina replied, getting frustrated with the dwarfs attitude.

"Not my fault you were late. You could've just poofed here then maybe you would have seen the dragon yourself" Leroy grumbled.

If Emma hadn't come between them Regina would have definitively thrown a fireball to the annoying dwarf. "Okay, maybe we can walk around and hear if other people have seen the dragon" Emma suggested. Regina and Leroy shared one more challenging look before Emma pulled her wife by the hand.

Regina sighed loud: "Do you really think that we will find other people who have seen this dragon?"

"No, but it seemed the only way to satisfy Leroy...Maybe we can make a romantic walk around town instead." A loud roar broke the silence of the dark town. "Or maybe not."

* * *

Emma slummed in one of the booths in Granny's diner, tired of searching all night for a clever and sneaky dragon. Regina sat opposite her with her head resting on the table. It wasn't very ladylike but at this point the brunette was just too exhausted to care.

"Anyone up for some coffee?" Granny asked, already placing two cups on the table.

"Thanks" Emma smiled gratefully. Regina just lifted her head, only high enough to be able to sip her coffee, and mumbled something that sounded like a thank you.

"Where is David?" Regina asked after another sip of coffee.

"He went home" Emma replied.

Regina groaned: "Not fair. I wanna go ho..." Even before she was able to finish her sentence Regina was engulfed by white smoke. As soon as it appeared it disappeared. Regina found herself sitting on her bed in her bedroom. "…ome too."

"Your welcome" Emma said. She was already crawling under the cover. She didn't even take the time to undress. Regina smiled softly, pushed her shoes of and crawled under the covers too. Emma was lying her right side with her back towards her wife so Regina spooned the blonde. After just a minute or two both women were sound asleep. They stayed that way until phone call woke them up in the afternoon.

* * *

"Nooo" Regina groaned: "Let it ring." She had her arms around the blond woman lying next to her, who was trying to grab her cellphone. It was pretty difficult with her wife pulling her back under the covers. Finally Emma was able to grab her phone and answer her mother's call.

"Hey mom."

"Emma, you better come to the toll bridge. Immediately" Snow said from the other side of the line.

"Why, what's wrong?"

"We found the dragon."

"What? How? Who is 'we'?"

"Just come and I'll answer your questions when you get here." Snow ended the phone call.

Emma turned around to find her wife still snuggled up under the covers. She smiled. Emma sighed and leaned forward to press a soft kiss on Regina's nose. "Time to get up" Emma whispered barely an inch away from Regina's face.

The brunette turned around in protest.

"Don't make me tickle you out of bed" Emma threatened.

"You wouldn't" Regina said, her eyes wide open.

"Try me."

Regina didn't wait for another second and jumped out of bed. Normally she wouldn't let the blonde win so easily but when it came to tickling, Regina still hadn't found a way to beat Emma in her game.  
This time they decided to use magic immediately to transport themselves to the place they needed to be, the toll bridge. As soon as the white and purple smoke had disappeared the two women saw a blue, almost grey-like, dragon standing tall on the bridge. Its wings spread wide.

"So we found the dragon. We followed the smoke. And the 'we' is me, Ruby, Dorothy and Belle" Snow said to her daughter.

"What?" Emma asked confused.

"The questions you asked on the phone…"

"…Oh, right…Well…" Emma replied, finally catching up.

"We haven't been able to get close to it" Belle said, nodding towards the blue dragon.

"As soon as one of us does gets closer it breaths fire at us" Ruby continued: "And me being in wolf form doesn't help. It sure would be nice to have Lena around now." Regina and Emma shared a look. They hadn't seen their daughter in two years.

"Yeah, but she isn't here. We'll have to find a way to deal with this dragon on our own" Snow said.

"Can't we try to contact Lena in the Enchanted Forest? And then Aero can create a portal to get them back to Storybrooke" Ruby said hopeful.

"And how were you planning on contacting her?" Snow asked mockingly: "And besides, who says she's still in the Enchanted forest?"

"Maybe there is a way for someone to go find her" Belle said.

"What do you mean?" Regina asked stunned: "Are you saying you know a way for us to find my daughter and you didn't tell me this before?" Regina was hurt. She missed her little girl so much. She had tried and tried through the years to open up a portal so she could at least visit Lena but nothing had worked.

"Maybe…It's possible" Belle answered carefully: "It's just…I recently read a book about portals you can open without a magic object. You use some sort of spell instead."

"A spell?" Emma asked confused: "I thought there weren't any spells that could do that." She looked to her wife.

"There aren't" Regina confirmed.

"Well,…if I understand correctly this spell works with love. You have to think about the person who you're trying to find and the spell will bring you to that person no matter where they are. But it only works if your intentions are good. So if you want to hurt the person in any way the spell doesn't work."

"Do you really think it'll work?" Ruby asked.

"I think it's worth the try" Emma said.

"Then let's go" Regina said determined, putting a hand out for her wife.

Emma held back: "Honey, I think I should stay here. You should take Ruby with you."

"What? Why?" Regina asked confused.

"Ruby will be of much better use. If the spell doesn't place you directly in front of Lena you'll need Ruby to track her" Emma explained.

Regina didn't like the idea of going without her wife but understood and agreed. She turned to Belle: "Okay so what do we have to do specifically?"

"Join hands and think about Lena. Think about your love for her and about how much you want to find her" Belle guided the two woman.

Ruby and Regina breathed slowly with their eyes closed, only thinking about Lena and about how much they missed that young girl. A faint light blue light appeared and grew bigger and bigger.

"Oh my god, you did it" Snow said amazed.

"Bring our little girl home safely" Emma smiled softly to her wife.

Regina leaned in for a kiss and replied: "I will." Hand in hand with Ruby, she walked into the blue light and disappeared from Storybrooke.

* * *

 **Next chapter coming soon.**


	23. Chapter 23

Regina and Ruby tumbled out of the other side of the portal. When their eyes adjusted to the brightness of the sun the two women saw they were standing in an open field of grass surrounded by tall trees.

"Hey, I recognize this place" Ruby said.

"It does seem familiar" Regina agreed.

"Isn't that the tree were Lena used to live with Elliot?" Ruby asked pointing at the tallest of the trees.

"Let's go check it out" Regina suggested. They walked for about ten minutes until they reached the big tree. It looked just like the time when they first met Lena in the Enchanted Forest, with some extra components, like huts and benches.

"There doesn't seem to be anyone here" Regina stated.

"It does seem that way" Ruby agreed. She put her nose in the air and sniffed: "But there are definitely people around."

"Lena?" Regina asked hopeful.

"No…But…" Before Ruby could finish her sentence people jumped out of the bushes with swords, knifes and arrows pointed at them.

"Stop!" a warrior commanded the others. It was definitively the leader. "Ruby?" the warrior asked while lifting their helm of their head.

"Mulan! Oh my…it's so good to see you." The two woman hugged.

"It's good to see you too…But what are you doing here? Is Dorothy okay?"

"Yes, she's fine. We're looking for Lena. She came to the Enchanted Forest two years ago but we need her to come back to Storybrooke. We need her help. This was her home when she lived in the Enchanted Forest. Have you seen her?"

"Yeah, I have been working with her since she arrived her two years ago."

"What?" Regina asked confused.

"We set up a sort of protection program for dragons. These are our warriors" Mulan explained and gestured to the people around them.

"Where is she?" Regina asked.

"She's probably training the dragons over by the cliffs" one of the female warriors said.

"Can you take us to her?" Ruby asked Mulan.

Mulan nodded. Then she turned to her soldiers: "Split in your two groups. Astrid and Adal you two are in charge. Adal take your group to collect fire wood and go find something for lunch. Astrid, your group protects camp." The two appointed leaders nodded and off they went. Mulan turned back to Ruby and Regina: "Let's go."

But just when they turned away to start their journey to the cliffs a big creature threw a shadow over them. When they looked up they saw an emerald green dragon descending. It circled around a couple times before placing its paws on the ground. On the dragons back stood a beautiful young warrior.

"Aero was right" the young warrior spoke: "You are here…Hi mom, hi Ruby."

"Lena?" Regina asked amazed, for a moment forgetting to breath. She slowly stepped forward with tears filling her eyes. Lena jumped down from Aero and ran to her mother to give her a long and needed hug.

"It's so good to see you" she whispered.

When they released, Regina took her daughters hands in hers to look at her properly. "You've grown up so much" Regina said in tears. Lena just smiled.

Ruby stepped forward: "You really have." And she pulled her friend in a tight hug.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm really happy to see you both" Lena began after the hug: "But why are you here?"

"We need your help. We kinda have a dragon problem in Storybrooke" Ruby said.

"A dragon? In Storybrooke?" Mulan asked confused.

"Do you know how he got there?" Lena asked.

Both Ruby and Regina shook their head. "Yesterday evening Emma got a phone call from Leroy that he had seen a dragon flying over town" Regina explained.

"Are you sure he didn't just hallucinate it or something" Lena said, thinking about the dwarfs drinking problem.

"That's what we thought at first but this morning Snow called us to the toll bridge and there we found a very big blue dragon" Regina continued.

"I think it's at least as big as Aero…or maybe even bigger" Ruby said, looking at Aero.

"Has anyone in town recently opened a portal?" Lena asked.

"No, only just us but that was after the dragon was already in Storybrooke" Regina answered.

"Then the dragon has probably created the portal itself" Lena concluded.

"Wait, Aero isn't the only species that can create portals?" Ruby asked shocked.

"We haven't encountered any other dragon species that can do it but it seems like the only logical explanation, isn't it?" Mulan replied.

"So, do you think you can help us out?" Regina asked her daughter hopeful.

"Sure" Lena smiled.

That afternoon Lena was ready to leave for Storybrooke. She took two of the warriors, Astrid and Eva with her for assistance and of course Aero was coming with her too. This time the dragon created the portal for them to travel through. The emerald green light engulfed them when they walked through and soon they stood in the middle of the street near the clock tower in Storybrooke.

* * *

Emma pushed the break on her sheriff's car down hard. A group of people had appeared on the middle of the street out of nothing but green light. Her heart was beating fast. When she recovered a from the scare she noticed some people she knew very well. She jumped out of the car and ran to her wife, daughter and friend.

"Regina, Lena, Rubes" Emma called out and pulled the three women in a tight hug all at the same time. Lena received a kiss on her forehead too.

"Hi mom" Lena smiled.

"You've grown up so much" Emma said, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"So it seems" Lena chuckled.

Emma got nudged in the back by something hard. When she turned around she was facing a tall emerald green dragon. "Yes, Aero. It's good to see you too" Emma smiled: "I can see that you have been taking very good care of our daughter."

Aero bowed its head as a 'you're welcome'.

"Now can someone take us to this blue dragon?" Lena asked.

"Sure, but first…Who are they?" Emma asked curious, nodding to the two girls in the background.

"Right…Sorry…Mom, these are Astrid and Eva. Two of our best warriors" Lena introduced her blond mother to the two girls behind her.

"Warriors?" Emma asked even more curious: "What have you been doing in the Enchanted forest?"

"You should have seen it. It was amazing" Ruby said excited: "She and Mulan have set up a dragon protection program together."

"You're working with Mulan?...Well, I'm happy you weren't alone all that time" Emma smiled grateful.

Lena smiled and then focused back on the task ahead: "So…the dragon?"

"Right…Well it's still at the toll bridge. Your grandparents and Dorothy are still there" Emma said, nodding in the general direction of the bridge: "Regina, what do you say about transporting everyone over to the toll bridge together."

Regina nodded. She placed her left hand in her wife's right one and started concentrating. In just a couple seconds they were all surrounded by a mixture of white and purple smoke. Another second later they stood on the road to the toll bridge.

"Wow" Eva said, taking in the appearance of the blue dragon: "It's magnificent."

Lena took her time to calculate the situation. She knew the area around the toll bridge pretty well since she had lived there for a while. She noticed that the dragon had its eyes following her every move. Lena stepped forward with an slow but steady pace. She wanted to see how the dragon would react and how quickly it would feel threatened. Twenty yards still separated Lena and the dragon but she noticed the dragon feeling on edge. She decided it was far enough and walked back to the group without turning around, careful not to turn her back on the dragon.

"So, what's the plan?" Astrid asked when Lena stood next to her.

"I want to try to connect with it with Aero's help first" Lena explained without taken her eyes of the dragon: "But I want you and Eva ready to step in if the dragon gets hostile. I want you to protect my family and friends."

"Sweetie we can take care of ourselves, you know" Ruby said with a smirk.

"Yes we can indeed" Regina agreed: "A couple of witches, a werewolf and some swordfighters can definitively protect themselves from a dragon."

"Mom, I know you can protect yourselves" Lena smiled: "But Eva and Astrid are trained in protecting bystanders while protecting the dragon too. I know that, when it comes to it, you will fight the dragon to help me and I can't let you do that."

Regina sighed. This was another reminder of how much her daughter had grown up in the past years. "Okay" she finally said: "Promise you'll be careful."

"I promise" Lena smiled and turned to Aero. The emerald green dragon stepped forward and followed Lena back to the toll bridge. The blue dragon was still watching them. This time it seemed more curious. At twenty yards Lena stopped.

"Hi, I'm Lena. This is my friend Aero" Lena said, motioning to the green dragon beside her: "he can help you talk to me."

 _"Hello, what's your name?"  
_

…

The curiosity in the blue dragon's eyes had disappeared and was replaced by distrust. He probably had never encountered a dragon that could use telepathy before, Lena thought. She had a feeling that Aero couldn't help her with this one. She placed a soft hand on Aero's nearest shoulder.

"Go back to Astrid" Lena said.

 _"Are you sure?"  
_

Lena nodded. Aero listened and slowly walked back to the group.

"Wait, why is Aero coming back without Lena?" Emma asked worried.

"There can be lots of reason. Maybe the blue dragon doesn't trust other dragons" Astrid explained. When Aero was close enough Astrid asked the dragon: "What's going on?"

 _"He didn't seemed to trust me. He was startled when I spoke to him with telepathy."_

"Does she need assistance?" Eva asked.

 _"I don't think so."  
_

Meanwhile Lena had taken of her knife from her belt and dropped it behind her on the ground. She started walking forward. Fifteen yards. Lena took another couple steps closer to the blue dragon, showing only calmness. She kept eye contact the whole time. Ten yards. The dragon started dabbing the ground nervously and grumbled softly. Five yards. This was getting to close for the blue dragon. He spread his wings wide and puffed up his chest. He breathed in deep and was about ready to release its breath of fire. This was the moment Lena had waited for. This was the moment she needed to act on. She turned her head away, closing her eyes and stretched her arm out to the blue dragon with an open hand.

"What the hell is she doing?" Regina asked very worried when seeing her daughter was standing so close to the dragon, defenseless. She was about to run to Lena to help her but one of the warriors, Astrid, held her back.

"Don't" she said with an hand on Regina's upper arm: "This is how she connects with them."

"By giving her hand as an appetizer?" Emma asked almost outraged.

"Please, stay calm. The dragon could pick up your emotions and that can bring Lena in danger" Eva said.

Both mothers took a deep breath. They searched for each other's hand to hold because the suspense was killing them. The dragon seemed to swallow its fire in surprise. It stared at the girl in front of him. Then the blue dragon slowly lowered its head. Lena could hear the gasps from the bystanders from all the way back when the dragon touched his snout against Lena's hand.

Lena turned her head back towards the blue dragon. She locked eyes and smiled: "It's nice to meet you."

* * *

 **Next chapter will be the last one of this story.**


	24. Chapter 24

"Hey,…Where is Henry?" Lena asked after taking another sip of hot cocoa.

After Lena was able to connect with the blue dragon she had found out, with Aero's help, that it was actually a girl dragon, named Saphira. The blue dragon had grown more trusting towards the green one. After an hour or two Saphira even trusted Astrid and Eva enough to stay with them and Aero in the woods for the night. Lena was spending the night at home with her family. Her mothers had begged for her to at least have dinner with them. So after Lasagne and apple turnovers they were all enjoying a warm cup of hot chocolate milk.

"Well, your brother's been studying literature at the Boston University" Regina answered.

"That's amazing!" Lena exclaimed: "Be sure to tell him hello from me when he visits."

"Can't you tell him yourself?" Emma asked: "He's coming home for the weekend."

Lena sighed: "I'm sorry but I need to go back tomorrow morning. I want Saphira safe in the Enchanted Forest as soon as I can."  
Emma made sad eye contact with her wife, who shared her sadness. Regina sighed and then turned to her daughter: "Okay, we understand that you have your responsibility's with your protection program but can you at least come visit us once in a while? You do have a dragon that can travel through realms, remember?"

Lena smiled: "I promise." Since they had a small dozen warriors now, Lena saw the possibility of her getting away now and then.

"Hey, did you find out how Saphira got here and where she came from? Can she create portals too, like Aero?" Ruby asked out of the blue. She had definitely been molding that around in her brain for a while.

"No, she can't create them, but she can sense them" Lena explained: "She comes from a world called Alagaësia. It's a hostile world where dragons were hunted down until there was only one left."

"Saphira?" Dorothy said shocked, not really needing an answer.

"She was able to hide a long time with the help of a boy called Eragon. Finally Saphira found a portal that had recently been opened and jumped in, only she had no idea where she was going to. All she wanted was to get away from that awful place."

"And the boy…Eragon?" Snow asked worried.

"He didn't come with her. Eragon wanted to stay in Alagaësia. If there would ever be another dragon he wanted to be there to protect them."

"Wow, that's very brave of him" David stated.

"After we return to the Enchanted Forest I'm planning to go to Alagaësia with Aero and find Eragon."

"Why?" Emma asked: "And isn't that a bit dangerous?"

"Yeah but I just want to tell Eragon that Saphira is okay. I know I would want someone to tell me if I had to send Aero away on his own." Her family and friends nodded in understanding. "And besides maybe we can work together somehow. We could always use more help with protecting the dragons."

* * *

Before leaving the next morning, to meet up with the dragons and warriors at the edge of the woods, Lena had already said goodbye to her grandparents, Belle, Zelena, Ruby and Dorothy. Her mothers went with her. They wanted to spent as much time with their daughter as they could so they drove to the forest in Emma's yellow bug. Surprisingly it was still alive. Lena could sense both her moms becoming sadder the closer they got to the woods. She thought she had even heard a single sob coming from Emma.  
Astrid, Eva, Aero and Saphira were already waiting under a couple strong oaks. The three women stepped out of the vehicle.

"Good morning everyone" Lena greeted: "How're you doing Saphira?" The blue dragon nodded its head to show she was fine. Lena turned back to her parents, who were standing hand in hand and barely able to hold back their tears. "I promise I'll come and visit as soon as I can" Lena smiled. She knew it was hard for her parents to say goodbye again. She was sad too but she knew it was for the best. She was needed in the Enchanted Forest. Although Storybrooke had her family, the Enchanted Forest had always been and always will be her true home.

Regina and Emma pulled their daughter into a tight hug, tears streaming down their cheeks. "We love you" they spoke together.

Lena chuckled at how synchronized her mothers were and said: "I love you too."

Aero was already opening a portal. When Lena pulled out of the hug it was ready for them to travel back to the Enchanted Forest. Eva and Astrid went first with both a hand on Saphira to guide her, followed by Aero. With one last glance at the two woman she loved, Lena stepped into the emerald green light and disappeared from Storybrooke.

* * *

"It's so not fair that you've seen yet another dragon" Henry complained to his mothers while setting the table. He was home for the weekend to celebrate his birthday. He had heard from the adventure on the phone already a couple weeks ago but he was still jealous about not having seen the dragon and of course that he missed a visit from his little sister.

"Come on kid" Emma sighed: "Get over it."

Before Henry could react an emerald green light caught their attention. It appeared to come from outside in the back garden. When they stepped outside, two shapes were forming in the light. Not long after the light disappeared and Lena and Aero were standing in the middle of the garden.

"Surprise!" Lena shouted. She ran to her brother to give him a strong hug and three birthday kisses.

"Lena?" Henry said still trying to take in how grown up his little sister looked.

"Well that's a first" Lena chuckled.

"What?" Regina asked.

"That Henry is at a loss for words." Lena couldn't help but laugh. Her family soon joined her. When the laughter died down Lena pulled out a long sword from the satchel around Aero's neck. "Happy birthday brother" she said, handing the sword over to Henry.

"You got me a sword for my birthday?" Henry asked amazed.

"It's made from dragon iron so it's twice as strong as normal iron."

"Awesome, thanks sis."

"I do have another gift…Well, it's more a gift for all of you…" Lena said a bit uncertain. She knew Henry would love it but she had no idea how her parents would react to her suggestion. "I was thinking you could all come with me to the Enchanted Forest for a couple of days, you know as a family vacation or something…I could show you the protection program we set up the past couple of years and of course meet some dragons."

Henry's eyes grew big with excitement: "I'm definitively in."

Lena smiled brightly at her brother. Then they both turned to their mothers, who had a thoughtful look on their faces. Emma and Regina locked eyes. A whole conversation seemed to take place just by their eye contact. Then they turned back to their son and daughter.

"Let's do this" Emma said, almost as excited as Henry.

"But first let us have diner and celebrate Henry's birthday. I'm sure the lasagna is ready now" Regina said before her wife and kids could get too ecstatic about the vacation. Otherwise, she knew, Henry and Emma would already be packing their bags.

As a family they walked inside. Before Lena closed the back door behind her she glanced back at her friend Aero, who was curled up under the apple tree. Who knew that when she first met Elliot as an orphan years ago that she would ended up with so many friends and family. Lena felt happy and knew that with them in her heart she could do anything, even when they were in different realms.

 **THE END**

* * *

 **As mentioned in my previous chapter, this one is the last.  
I hope you love reading this story as much as I loved writing it.  
Let me know what you thought about it.**


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